Beside You in Time
by RosieB
Summary: After the Jewel is stolen and the wish is made, Kagome finds herself cursed with immortality. Convincing Sesshoumaru to help her, they travel the world and through some of the most cataclysmic periods of human history to defeat the powerful thieves.
1. 1550: Edo

A/N: A new story! This is always exciting for me. I hope it is for you too. There are just a few things I want to say before we get to it:

1. This is Sess/Kag - minimal to no bashing of other characters, though. Really! I know - I'm surprised too.

2. Don't be fooled by the title - this isn't a cuddly and cute story. This story shares its title with a Nine Inch Nails song and I'm sure most of you know, NIN isn't exactly happy-go-lucky stuff. This story will be considerably more adult than most of my stories. It's the nature of going through time periods that are full of war and blood and disease. There is a reason for the rating - it's not dark fic by a long shot, but it's a step in that general direction at points. As for the other meaning of "adult"... well, I'll just say that nothing breaks FFN's rules.

3. As a warning, I am going to be INCREDIBLY busy this year. Ungodly busy. I'll try to warn you ahead of time if it's going to be awhile for the next chapter to be posted, but if I forget, please don't lynch me. Just remember, I always finish my stories.

4. I'm pretending the canon ended with the anime - i.e. open-ended. Obviously, I can't continue from the end of the manga or I'd just be twisting things beyond reason.

5. Thanks (and I have the feeling this is the first of many times) go to Ijin for all the help she freely gives, even when I'm being ridiculously crazy. :)

Beside You in Time  
1550: Edo, Japan

It was unseasonably warm, even in the shade of the forest, but she was running anyway. Sweat dripped down her back between her shoulder blades, and her eyes watered. Trees jostled her from right to left, and her ankles protested each time her feet slammed onto the hard forest floor, but she didn't stop. She couldn't stop.

The stitch her side was quickly becoming unbearable. How many times had she let Inuyasha carry her? Or Kirara? Now she was paying for it - the half-demon and the fire-cat were nowhere to be found at the moment she needed to run the fastest. Her chest was close to bursting open from the pain. Her legs were on fire, and the mucus of extreme thirst was building in her mouth. But she couldn't even call out - who could hear her anyway? She must be so far from them by now.

Even so, she had to try, before she had used up all of her energy. "Inuyasha!" she croaked. She swallowed and winced as her shoulder slammed hard into a tree. "Inuyasha!" she cried out again. She could barely hear her own voice - the blood pumping in her ears was too loud.

In the distance, four small forms danced through the treetops. They were taunting her, she knew. They could have outstripped her long ago. She could only hope that their confidence would give her a chance to catch them. To stop them. To kill them.

She just wanted the Jewel back.

For at least the fourth time, she swore at herself inside her head. How could she have been such a fool? She was supposed to be protecting the Shikon no Tama - the complete and wish-granting Shikon no Tama. She had only had it for a few days - her bandaged leg and the bruises decorating her body were proof enough that she had been through a vicious battle just recently. She could feel the stitches in her thigh loosening as she ran, and she knew that the white strips of cloth around her leg would soon be blossoming with fresh blood. Quite soon she would be out of energy, bleeding, and in the middle of nowhere.

And if she survived - if she somehow managed to avoid drawing a hungry youkai with the scent of fresh blood within minutes of collapsing - she knew Inuyasha would kill her. For four years they had labored to complete the Jewel, and the final battle was fresh in their minds. Naraku was so newly dead that they had all agreed that they could not let their guard down - he had a habit of surviving the impossible, after all. And as soon as she was beginning to feel comfortable, this had happened. She had allowed four malicious little monkeys to take the Jewel from her own fingers.

Yes. Inuyasha would kill her. So would the others, for that matter. They had lost so much to get to this point. Kohaku's grave still smelled of freshly turned earth.

Ahead of her, the Shikon no Tama came to a stop, and she almost cried with relief. She knew there was a battle coming, but at least she could stop running. And all she needed was one chance - one opening - to touch those thieving monkeys. She had learned to control her powers quite well over the past years, and her frustration was more than enough to fuel a quadruple purification.

The trees were thinning out and she could hear the rushing of water. Flat, smooth stones slid underneath her feet as she came to the edge of the river and looked across. The smallest demon stood on the other side, watching her pant and wipe at the sweat on her brow. He held the Jewel in his tiny, knobby hands. She took one step forward and let the river water seep into her shoes.

"Give it back," she wheezed.

The words were barely out of her mouth before there was a stinging in her left cheek, and she fell into the water. The stones of the river bed cut into her outstretched hand, and she jammed her elbow as she rolled back to avoid going face-first into the freezing river. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the monkey troupe reassembling on the opposite bank.

She sat in the cool water for a moment, stunned and trying to catch her breath. The youkai didn't move either, and she looked up just in time to see the shimmer of a barrier surrounding them. She was confused for a moment - they could have easily outrun her and saved themselves the trouble of tricky magic. Then she realized that she was not the threat.

There was a small splash to her left, and she saw a flash of silver hair. But no red. The new arrival moved in a blur with the sing of a sword being drawn filling the forest. It was only when the metal was whining against the troupe's barrier did she realize who she was staring at. "Sesshoumaru!"

The taiyoukai gave her a half-glance before turning back to the well-protected monkey family. Kagome got to her feet, dripping with water and sweat. She probably stank, offending his delicate senses, but she didn't care. The barrier was hardly rippling under Sesshoumaru's attacks. "We need the Tetsusaiga!" she urged, as Tokijin slid ineffectually against the barrier once again.

He looked more fully at her, and she noticed the leader of the troupe was now holding the Jewel and murmuring over it. They didn't have time for Tetsusaiga. She stumbled forward, her hands outstretched. "No!" she cried. "Don't! You can't!"

Sesshoumaru did not shy away as her fingers began to glow. He struck again with his blade, ignoring the jarring reverberation that it sent up his one remaining arm. Kagome came crashing to the other side of the barrier, slamming her flat palms against it. Just as the taiyoukai had to trust that she would not purify him, she had to trust that he would not slice her in half. It was a remnant of their brief, uneasy truce, but she was suddenly so relieved he was here with her. And with only the barrier in between them, they put all their strength behind their attacks. The hot heat of her purification powers spread through the clearing as the sounds of Tokijin's strikes bounced through the trees.

The barrier began to crack - it shivered under their combined attack.

"Stop it!" she yelled again. The leader lifted his preternaturally intelligent eyes to hers, and Kagome was struck by the thought that these creatures were not what she thought. A ripple of fear went down her spine as she continued to pound on the barrier. She couldn't understand the raspy noises coming from his fang-filled mouth, but the Jewel was beginning to glow and she was hit by how awful and ironic the whole situation was. All that work, for this? It couldn't end here!

"Inuyasha!" she cried out again, desperately.

She brought her hands down again, just as Tokijin collided with the barrier on the other side, and the whole shimmering bubble splintered apart. The monkeys screeched as she reached out for them.

Her hands closed around the monkey leader's hands and the precious stone within them just as the Jewel exploded in dazzling light. Kagome felt herself get thrown backwards and the sharp pain that started at the crown of her head, going down to her toes. Then she didn't feel anything for quite some time.

* * *

She had a fat lip, she realized upon waking. And oh, she ached all over. She lay there for a moment to take stock of her limbs and her injuries and decided that, despite the lingering pain, she was in fairly good shape. Nothing was broken. Her wounds weren't seeping with blood or anything more disturbing. It was nothing a few painkillers and a week at home couldn't fix.

Clenching her teeth, Kagome rolled to her side and pushed herself up. Okay, perhaps it would take several painkillers, but she was at least alive and safe in Kaede's hut.

And alone.

She frowned and experimentally put some weight on her feet. The fresh stitches in her thigh stretched but held, and she eventually managed to stand upright, albeit a bit unsteadily.

Running one hand along the wall for balance, she walked slowly out the hut. It had hurt to realize that none of her friends - not even Shippo - had sat with her, but she realized they hadn't wandered far. She could hear the soft tones of Miroku and Sango, interspersed with Inuyasha's rough voice. They didn't sound too angry, she thought, as she hobbled closer. Perhaps they would forgive her for losing the Jewel in light of the fact that she had been injured. Maybe Inuyasha wouldn't yell.

She snorted. Right. And maybe Naraku was really just a misunderstood romantic.

Rounding the corner of the hut, she found her three friends in deep discussion with Kikyo. Kagome's stomach twisted at the sight of the undead miko - they weren't precisely enemies anymore, but it was difficult to see her in the place that Kagome normally occupied. It was understandable that Inuyasha would call upon her, since she wasn't exactly in prime form to go after the Jewel herself, but this potential confrontation was going to be a thousand times more difficult with Kikyo nearby.

Inuyasha froze as she came towards them, his golden eyes going wide. "Kagome?"

The others turned, and Kagome saw that Sango's eyes were red. Miroku's hand - bare of the rosary for the first time in years - shook. Kagome tried to smile. "Hi, guys."

The taijiya was suddenly hugging her with a fierce emotion that Kagome had never seen before. "Kagome! We thought we lost you too!"

The miko looked over the demon slayer's shoulder at the stricken males. Kikyo was staring too. "What happened? I'm fine! I'm fine," she said again. "Except for the fact that I lost the Jewel."

"To lose the Jewel but to keep you, Kagome, is more than we thought we could ask for," Miroku said.

She shook her head as Sango reluctantly pulled away. "I don't understand. You're not mad at me?" she asked.

"We're mad at the bastards that tried to kill you," growled Inuyasha, crossing his arms. His ears flattened against his head. "It's not your fault the Jewel was stolen from you," he added quietly.

Kagome stepped forward to assure him otherwise when Kikyo spoke. "You were near death," she murmured, and Kagome understood that the undead miko was surprised, not displeased, about that fact. A chill settled into her bones.

"I'm fine," she whispered.

"I'm amazed you're able to stand! We were talking about how Inuyasha would tell your mother if you died," Sango said. "We were certain you would. You had hit your head so hard, Kagome. You were so pale and you weren't waking up. You nearly split your skull open."

Her hand floated up to the back of her head and, for the first time, Kagome felt the dried blood in her hair. "Maybe Sesshoumaru..." She bit her lip and shivered. The thought of the taiyoukai using Tenseiga on her was somehow more terrifying than the feeling of blood under her fingertips.

"Sesshoumaru was gone," Inuyasha said with a scowl. "He left you there."

"So did the monkey demons," Kagome replied.

Miroku straightened his shoulders. "Monkey demons? They were the youkai that stole the Jewel? And Lord Sesshoumaru could not defeat them?"

Kagome shook her head. "They had some sort of barrier. It took both of us to break it, and by the time we did, they'd used the wish. It exploded, and I got thrown backwards." She lifted her eyes to the hanyou, but he wouldn't return her look. "I'm so sorry," she said.

Inuyasha made a soft noise of frustration and shifted his weight restlessly. "Doesn't matter," he muttered. "You're okay. The Jewel is gone."

"No, it isn't," Kikyo said. "The Jewel is only supposed to disappear if someone used its wish for an unselfish purpose. Undoubtedly, the youkai used it for their own, selfish purposes. The Shikon no Tama is permanently tainted now and still powerful."

There was an uncomfortable silence. "What was the wish?" Sango asked.

Kagome sighed. "I don't know. I couldn't hear it."

"Lord Sesshoumaru might know," Miroku pointed out.

Inuyasha scoffed. "Who cares? Eventually, they'll turn up and I'll kill them. And get the Jewel back," he added forcefully. He looked at Kagome and quickly glanced away again. "I'm not asking that interfering bastard anything."

"If not for Lord Sesshoumaru, Kagome could have been killed," the monk said. "It is likely that he only interfered because he said that he would help us defeat Naraku and complete the Jewel. Lord Sesshoumaru would not want yet another demon to get the Shikon no Tama. He probably saw it as part of his oath. He was our ally just a week ago."

"And when Naraku died, so did any truce I had with him," Inuyasha growled. "He obviously feels the same, since he didn't even help Kagome when she was dying!"

Sango looked back and forth between the hanyou and young miko. "Perhaps we should look for these demons, instead of waiting for them to come back. Before they can cause trouble."

The hanyou shrugged jerkily, and Kagome bit her lip. "We'll discuss it later, I guess," she murmured. She took a shaky step towards the dog demon. "Inuyasha, can I talk with you for a minute? Now?"

He hesitated, but nodded at last. "Wait a moment," said Sango, as Inuyasha reached to pick her up. She disappeared into the hut and reemerged a moment later with a thick blanket. She wrapped it around Kagome's shoulders. "You can't get sick too," she warned.

"Thank you," murmured the priestess.

Sango leaned close. "It's no problem, Kagome," she said with a brief, watery smile. "You'll be fine now. We all will."

Kagome lifted her eyes and recognized forgiveness. Miroku stood behind his betrothed with the his peaceful, resigned expression telling her that he forgave her as well. The miko was unsure of whether to smile or to collapse on the ground, crying that they were being far too merciful. Before she could make a decision, the others moved away, and the hanyou scooped her up into his arms.

When they reached the God Tree, he tucked her in beside him and bowed his head. She leaned into him slightly, pulling the blanket closer to her shoulders. It was far colder today than yesterday, when she had been chasing those monkey youkai through the forest. If it had been yesterday. She had forgotten to ask and now was not the time. "Inuyasha, I'm sorry," she whispered. It was too much to hope that the hanyou would give her the same forgiveness that she had received from Miroku and Sango without actually having to ask or to apologize. "I tried to get it back. I just... didn't make it in time."

"You're so stupid."

Kagome took in a sharp breath and tried to move away, but his clawed hand wrapped around her wrist. "No," he growled. "I meant that you shouldn't be sorry. It's not your fault. I wasn't there. I should have been protecting you, Kagome, and you nearly got killed. And my bastard half-brother was the one who helped you instead. I could have broken that barrier." His free hand twisted around the hilt of Tetsusaiga.

She relaxed only slightly. "I called for you. Where were you?"

He was quiet for a moment. "Here."

Kagome glanced at his frown and, for the first time, saw the guilt etched into his features. It was the guilt that saved her from his anger, she knew. To tell the truth, a piece of her blamed him too, especially when she realized exactly what he had been doing while he was busy not saving her. It was no coincidence that Kikyo had turned up so quickly and conveniently. "I see," was all she said.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked suddenly.

She blinked. "What do you mean?" She turned to look at him again, more fully this time. "The Jewel is still out there."

"But it's complete and the wish has been used up," Inuyasha replied. He said it with such steadiness that Kagome realized with a jolt that he had rehearsed this conversation.

"Do you want me to go?"

His head jerked around to look back at her. She was jumping ahead in his script. "N-no. I want you to stay." A fierce blush colored his cheeks. "Shippo would miss you," he added quickly.

The frown marring her features was so deep and sad that he had to turn away. "All I wanted to know, when I asked to talk to you, was whether you were angry with me," she said. "And to tell you how sorry I am for losing the Jewel."

His jaw clenched and relaxed a few times. "You already said you were sorry."

"But you didn't say it was okay," she replied.

"Because it's not. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go."

She looked at him through her eyelashes, which were suddenly heavy with salty tears. "A lot of things don't happen the way they weren't supposed to," she replied. "All I can do is say I'm sorry."

He nodded. "It's fine," he said stiffly.

She sighed. It was a start, and the best that she could expect from Inuyasha at this point. "I would like to go home," she said. He looked at her sharply and she shook her head. "Not permanently, of course! Just for a few days. To see a doctor and to tell my mother that I'm alive and the Jewel is complete, if not with us."

Inuyasha let out a soft breath that she hoped was a sign of his relief and not resignation. "Yeah, you should," he said. "I'll come and get you in a couple of days."

That was his guilt talking again, allowing her to go, but she was willing to take what she could get. By the time he came looking for her, he would have recovered from the guilt and shock of her near-death and the loss of the Jewel, and he would drag them to every corner of Japan to hunt down the monkey youkai. And that was fine - even if there was a part of that where he was going to finally yell at her for losing the Shikon no Tama. Yes, she thought he should have some of the guilt, but she also felt that she had gotten off particularly light in the 'getting yelled at' category. Besides, it would give her a sense of normalcy.

She stood up slowly, using his shoulder as support and shrugging off the blanket. "You're going now?" he asked, turning his face up to look at her.

"Well, when else? I really should go to a doctor soon rather than later. As it is, he's going to wonder why I didn't come to him immediately after bashing my head in," she pointed out.

He nodded once before a frown spread across his features. "Kagome," he began, "have you ever been able to travel through the well without the Jewel?"

"No. Remember that time that you pushed..." She trailed off as the color drained from her face. "Oh, no."

And she was off running again. Almost immediately, she felt ill, like her brain and stomach were both just sloshing around inside of her. Inuyasha's arm wrapped around her waist in a moment and he carried her the last few feet. "Don't make yourself worse," he growled, jumping gracefully over the lip of the well and into its depths.

She buried her head in his shoulder. "I can't look," she sobbed as they floated through the air.

But she felt him land. A trill of fear went through her as she realized that it hadn't been long enough, that he hadn't replied, and that he wasn't reassuring her. His claws tightened around her waist, snagging in her clothes. She took a deep breath and could still smell the fresh outside air instead of the musty inside of the well house. And still she kept her head down and her eyes closed.

Inuyasha stood still for a long moment, his muscles moving slightly under her as he breathed. "Kagome..."

She didn't need to hear him say it. She burst into tears.

* * *

A/N: Well? What do you think of the beginning? This is a prologue of sorts - expect more detail and fleshing out later (and longer chapters!). Obviously, Sesshoumaru gets more than a cameo. LoL. Anyway, please review!


	2. 1596: London

Beside You in Time  
1596: London, England

The market was unusually crowded for so late in the day. She pushed through the crowds, protecting her purchases with one hand and the leftover coins with the other. It was only a couple farthings, but they could buy a loaf of bread or a pint - more than enough incentive for a pickpocket or someone rougher than that. She closed her fist tightly around them as she was pushed backwards by an oblivious man that smelled of rotting fish. He was laughing raucously and showing off his five teeth. Kagome craned her neck to see feathers flying - a cockfight.

She sighed. Barbarians, she thought, as a cheer went up and there was a tinkle of coins passed from hand to hand. One man stumbled from the crowd, holding an entire crown aloft. Kagome's heart quickened. That was almost three weeks' wages right there in his hand. She would be that much closer to getting off this island and onto the Continent. He was drunk enough, even this early in the evening. He wouldn't notice.

But she hesitated too long, and the man was running down the lane, crowing about his fantastic fortune. She kicked at the ground and turned, walking up the other road towards Blackfriars. Ships moved along the Thames beside her - mostly fishing boats and small skiffs that ferried people across the river for a fee, but several cargo ships too. These, she knew, would take on passengers as well, to almost any destination they wished for the right price.

The farthings bit into her hand as she watched the boats. Even the small amount she had would get her across the Thames. But what then? No one would come looking for her, but if she showed her face in London again, she would be thrown into prison as a thief. And thieves were often executed, especially when they had spurned the generosity of their noble employers.

Not that execution was much more than a potential annoyance these days.

Kagome frowned - the fact was that she had a fairly fortunate position. She was paid, and she was largely ignored. She hadn't even received a proper lashing, only a few strikes with the flat of someone's hand - usually from Catherine or Theresa, the teenaged daughters of her boss.

Turning the corner and passing down the alley, she arrived at the large building that served as Sir Harold's London home. Kagome hefted her basket onto her hip and pushed open the door, letting out a flood of warm, sticky air. She sighed softly and stepped inside, desperate to shed her shawl and sit by the fire. It had been a long walk, and she wasn't used to it yet. Her calves ached.

"Close the door! Where've ya been?" snipped Martha, yanking the basket out of her hands immediately. Kagome deposited the coins into the maid's waiting palm before she could even hint at thievery. "I told you to hurry! They've been here for ages, waitin' for this wine."

"Sorry. Sorry," Kagome murmured, lowering her eyes.

Her thick Japanese accent drew the usual sneer from the kitchen maid. "Can't understand a bloody thing you say, girl."

Kagome's jaw clenched. They should understand the only word she ever seemed to utter in this detestable place. "Sorry."

"Give 'er a break, Martha," said the cook, John, his brow creasing as he studied the sauce. He added some costly saffron and stirred again. "Other things to be doin' than mockin' the little freak."

The serving maid swept in with an empty tray and her eyes sparkling. "Martha, you should see the little mistresses!" Jane crowed quietly. "What fuss!"

"Do they want the wine, Jane?" John broke in, before the serving maid could get any farther. He drew himself up a bit straighter now that Jane was in the room and spoke with greater care, not dropping letters from his words as he did in his usual Cockney.

"No," Jane said, not looking at the older man. "They're happy with the ale for now."

John frowned at the brush-off, but no one else was surprised. Jane was eyeing a butcher from the morning market, Kagome knew. Not that even Jane - who was significantly more accepting than the conservative, elder Martha - would confide in the "little freak" who had shown up in their kitchen three months before. But even if Kagome didn't know much English aside from the words most often shouted at her, she could see how eager Jane was to go to the market on the days they were having beef or chicken. Kagome had had to wait around many times as her flirtatious companion chatted with the butcher. She could see the attraction - he was a handsome man and had his own business. He was a true catch for a serving maid, even one that spoke with a refined accent. He offered Jane true freedom.

Kagome could sympathize with that, certainly.

Jane was talking again. "They want to get their greedy claws into that Lord Spenser that's come to dinner." Kagome wasn't the only one that loathed Theresa and Catherine - no one liked the households' two teenage daughters. The mistress of the house was the only one that doted upon them, but even their father called them brats, so this description of them went by unchecked.

"Well, is he 'andsome?" Martha asked, loading up the next tray for Jane.

"He's an odd one, that's what he is," the serving maid replied, but the color in her cheeks told them that she thought more of the lord than that. "Suppose he is. He's young and rich, that's all the little mistresses care about."

"All Sir Harold cares about too," commented John. Their boss was getting on his years, and his days as an active knight in the Queen's forces were long over. He had made his modest fortune, and now it was up to his daughters to marry men wealthy enough to maintain their lifestyle.

"Don't matter either way," Jane replied with a shrug. "He isn't half bored by them all. Not that they notice, the little tarts! I confess, he is rather dashing. He's so quiet and superior to them all, even if he does look like a bit of a freak."

"Like this one?" Martha asked with a nasty grin, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at Kagome.

Jane spared a glance for the girl, noting her almond-shaped eyes and jet black hair. "No. He's cultured, not a creeping urchin from the docks. He has such unusual coloring, although it becomes him. He can't be more than five-and-twenty, but his hair is all white. No. Silver, more like."

"Sounds like a freak," Martha said.

"A man's hair can go white from fright. I've seen it in Plymouth," John put in. The cook would tell anyone who would listen about how the seaside inn he used to work in was once commandeered for food and beds by the Queen's navy in the battle against the Spanish Armada. If pressed, of course, John would admit that he didn't see anyone aside from a few raggedy sailors or, at most, a lieutenant or two. "It'll go right silver, like an old man, fast as it can grow."

Kagome glanced up from the pot she was scrubbing. She had to listen very closely to these conversations - the other servants didn't slow down their chatter so that she could learn the language more easily, of course - but she knew the word 'silver' particularly well. 'Don't you dare touch that silver, you little freak!' was a common admonishment these days. Not that she ever went near the dratted stuff.

"His hair looks like silk," Jane said with a coquettish smile. "Silver silk."

Kagome sighed softly. A man with silver hair was not something so unusual, but it did remind her of so much. It cut her deeply to remember Inuyasha. It had been a long time since she had heard his rough voice or had him drape her with his fire-rat robe when she got cold. She wondered vaguely how he was doing and whether she would ever see him again.

Would she ever step foot in Japan again, for that matter? She missed Japan almost as much as she missed her friends. She wished she could have afforded to go beyond London when she first arrived in England, to someplace with greenery that would remind her of home. But she was certain that the similarities would end there, and she wouldn't feel any more love for the English countryside as she did for London. To be here, in a land where she didn't know the language and she got less respect than the dogs, made her ache for her home. There, she was someone to be respected - a miko with untapped potential. In London, she was a scullery maid and reduced to cleaning out the chamber pots of the other servants.

A bell rang, and Jane went out of the kitchen again, balancing the tray expertly in one hand. When she came back a few moments later, she pointed to Kagome. "Our mistress wants you," she said, barely concealing a smile.

Kagome sighed and set aside the crockery. This happened almost every time the family had dinner guests - inevitably, the rather daft Lady Emily would talk about her odd, foreign servant and the guests would want to see her. She felt rather pathetic as a curiosity, but at least it got her out of the hostile kitchen for a few moments. And it was something to hold (silently) over Martha - the kitchen maid never was permitted a peek at the dinner guests. Even now, Martha's eyes burned with jealousy as Kagome passed by.

She walked down the narrow hall, wiping her hands on her apron and smoothing her hair back under her cap. She could hear the soft twittering of the daughters and the high, silly voice of Emily as they tried to entertain their guest. It paused as she stepped around the corner and curtsied, her eyes on the floor.

"Come here, Kagome," Lady Emily said, the Japanese name sounding awkward on her British tongue. "Lord Spenser wished to meet you."

Kagome lifted her head and nearly jumped out of her skin.

There, at the far end of the table, sat Sesshoumaru. In a doublet. She wasn't sure which was the stranger sight, but he was looking back at her with utter non-surprise.

"Move your feet, girl," snapped Sir Harold.

Kagome scooted forward across the wooden floor and curtsied again, and Lady Emily smiled her slightly vacant smile. Kagome would concede that her mistress was a good-hearted woman. She certainly wouldn't subject her scullery maid to this sort of charade if she knew how uncomfortable it was for Kagome, but the fact that it didn't even occur to Emily that it could be uncomfortable made Kagome think of her as quite stupid. Not to mention that Lady Emily was hardly batting an eye at the fact that her servant was pale and on the edge of fainting at the sight of their guest.

"Lord Spenser says he may know your language. Isn't that nice?" Lady Emily said. She waved a finger, not letting Kagome answer. "Mind that you don't point out his mistakes. He says it's been some time since he was in your country."

Kagome almost barked out a hysterical laugh, but stilled herself by lifting her eyes and curtsying yet again to the dog demon. Sesshoumaru leaned back in his chair, one hand holding a silver goblet that cost more than Kagome got in wages for a whole year. "What are you doing here, miko?" he asked her in Japanese.

"I could ask you the same," she said. "You scared me to death! Did you come here to find me?"

"Why would I care to look for a worthless human like you?" he replied.

"Oh. Well. I see you haven't changed."

"Why would I?"

She shrugged. "It's been more than forty years. People change. But you have a new arm. That's new, I guess." She glanced at the very real fingers clutching his glass. The claws were filed down, she noticed. His hair was draped over his ears too, although tied back. She wondered if it was magic or make-up that hid his demonic markings and finally settled upon magic - colored contacts were about four hundred years in the future, and his eyes were gray. "So if you still hate all humans, why are impersonating one? And why are you here with my boss?"

"Business," he replied shortly. His lips turned down slightly. "It has been forty years," he added, as if just realizing it, "and yet, you have not changed."

"Tell me about it," she sighed. "Stop frowning though. Everyone's staring. I'll get in trouble, and I don't feel like dealing with that tonight."

His eyes swept over the other occupants of the room. Kagome knew he didn't care much for their opinion, but whatever business he had with Sir Harold must have been quite important. He straightened and nodded towards her once. "We will talk later," he said. Switching easily to English, he turned to Emily. "How intriguing that you brought such a girl into your home," he said. His tones were bordering on oily, and Kagome had to steel herself against recoiling. To her ears, his refined British accent was both perfect and horrifying. She realized that she had desperately enjoyed using her native language again.

Theresa answered for her mother. "Oh, my brother found her wandering the docks. He's a lieutenant, you know, on the HMS Defiant. Anyway, he found the poor little thing and decided she had good enough breeding to fill our vacant place. He was being too kind, of course. But that's to be expected, considering where she came from." She batted her eyelashes and whispered conspiratorially, "She's a heathen!"

"That's not entirely true, my dear," Emily said indulgently. "Our Lord has seen fit to save her soul."

Sesshoumaru's eyes flickered towards Kagome and narrowed. She looked away, ashamed. Her mother and grandfather would be horrified to hear Lady Emily's words - to even pretend to forget your ancestors was to dishonor them. But she had seen what happened to 'heathens' on her travels, and she learned to lie convincingly enough. She was, by all outward appearances, loyal to the Church of England.

"Saved or not," Sir Harold said, "she's still not one of us. My wife was too indulgent allowing her this place."

"Charity, my husband, is a virtue," reminded Lady Emily, still smiling dimly. "Besides, she has turned from such evil."

Catherine leaned forward over the table, ignoring her parents. "You must know all about those heathens, having been there, Lord Spenser. We would be delighted to hear of your stories of the Far East," she purred. "Theresa and I enjoy nothing more than such tales!"

Sesshoumaru put down his glass. "I suppose I have some stories," he said, sending the two young women into a small fit of giggles.

Kagome rolled her eyes and, realizing they had forgotten about her, retreated back to the kitchen.

* * *

"How does a miko become a scullery maid?"

She looked up, startled, from where she was dumping the ashes from the fireplace and spilled them all down her front. She had thought she was the last one awake, and that he had gone home. "What?"

He emerged from the shadows and leaned against the stone wall that encircled their small yard. She had to shake herself again, trying not to stare at the sight of Sesshoumaru in a doublet, hose and slops. He - as Jane would say - cut a fine figure, but Kagome couldn't help but think it looked a bit ridiculous. Since he had just given her a second heart attack of the day, she said so.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "Did you expect me to make a spectacle of myself, as you have? This is the custom," he said. "And do not believe that I will not spill your blood, simply because we are half a world away from Japan."

"I'm sure you would," she said with a shrug. She tried to brush away the soot that stained her apron, but only succeeded in smearing it. "I'm assuming that you'll wait though. You're really curious about why I'm here, after all."

"I am curious as to why of all the places in this growing world you could have been, you are in the house I dined at this evening," he corrected. "I don't particularly care why you left my idiot brother, but I do not believe in such coincidences as this." He looked her up and down once. "Although," he added, "I am curious about your lack of aging. You should be an old woman by now."

"I am an old woman," she said. "Sixty-five, actually. Officially, in some times and places, I'm a senior citizen. I just don't look it."

His brow furrowed in irritation at her rambling. "Explain."

She pulled her shawl closer. Clearly they would be skipping the pleasantries, but that wasn't particularly surprising, considering it was Sesshoumaru. She was surprised he hadn't tried to behead her for the comment about the doublet - although, he probably thought it equally ridiculous. "Well, do you remember the last time we saw each other? When we tried to get the Jewel back from those monkey demons? You tried to help me."

He scowled at the mere suggestion. "I was trying to prevent another youkai from taking the Shikon no Tama," he said. "I had no interest in assisting _you_."

"Yeah, I know," she said with a wave of her hand. "The point is, when that leader made that wish, we were all caught in that explosion of light. And it - I don't know - did something to me. I can't age, and I can't die."

"You are immortal," he said.

Kagome scrunched her nose and tapped her chin. "Close to it, at least. Well, not quite. Sort of," she waffled. She raised an eyebrow as he growled softly. "Well, it would have helped immensely if you'd been around, you know! When we realized that I wasn't getting any older, and that I was surviving everything that should have hurt or killed me, we went looking for you. You're the only one that could have heard the wish. Where were you?"

"Traveling," Sesshoumaru replied simply. "Once the Jewel and Naraku were no longer a threat, I had no ties binding me to Japan."

"What about your kingdom?"

"There is a whole world to conquer. My kingdom is secure enough," he said softly.

She resisted the urge to stamp her foot. Of all the times to get a wanderlust! "Fine. Can you tell me _now_what he said?"

He thought for a moment. "It has been over forty years," he observed, "but I believe he wished for his family to remain together forever."

"His family? He said that, precisely?"

Sesshoumaru frowned. "No," he amended. "He said, 'us'. He did not specify who that was. He wished for eternal youth and life for 'us', so that 'we' could be 'together so long as we desire it'."

Kagome sagged slightly and shook her head. "Of course. Well, he wouldn't exactly have wished for just one hundred years of good health and youth, I guess." She straightened again, although her eyes were shining with droplets. "I suspected that all along, but thank you for confirming it. It does help to know the specifics, even if it's not what I wanted to hear."

He studied her for a moment. An immortal miko - it was enough to cause even his heart to skip a beat. She could destroy every demon in the world and never die. He supposed it was fortunate for his race that the foolish girl was not one to think about such things. He was the only one in this garden that could consider genocide as a viable option in battle. This girl that could not grow up only thought of returning to her mother. "You left Japan because of this?"

"I thought you weren't interested in that," she said, tying her cap underneath her chin. It was so cold in London at night, and her ears were beginning to hurt.

"I changed my mind."

She bit her lip. "I don't know. I had to. It was getting weird, I guess. I stayed the same age, and everyone else got older and older. Sango and Miroku have grandchildren! Grown up grandchildren who probably have kids of their own by now. I was... I was beginning to resemble Kikyo more than ever. We were the only ones stuck at one age, never dying, never aging." She took a breath and looked away. "Shippo was growing up, and he didn't need me anymore. Inuyasha looks a bit older too. It was just weird."

"Hn," he replied simply, not sounding interested at all.

She looked back at him with a frown. "You should know. Isn't that the worst part? Don't people age around you and die all the time?"

"Of course, but I do not care."

The inevitable question of Rin came to the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed it. When Sesshoumaru had left their lives, so had Rin. Kagome guessed that she was somewhere in her late fifties, if alive at all, and she had no wish to risk her neck again by asking. She had become careless of late, she admitted. Her cheekiness to a powerful demon lord - his demonic features magically concealed or not - was proof of that. Being immortal could make a person lazy with their words. She went with the safer question. "Where's Jaken?"

"In Japan, looking after the administrative needs of my kingdom that do not need my personal attention," he replied.

"I didn't know your kingdom had administrative needs," she said, her eyebrows arching. "I thought you just kind of wandered around, killing whoever challenged your power."

He scowled. "The complexities of youkai relations are far beyond your comprehension, miko," he said. "My kingdom will keep."

She shrugged. "Alright," she said, sounding wholly unconvinced. Her eyes swept over his features. "And this? Magic?" she asked, gesturing towards his cheekbones and forehead.

The taiyoukai nodded once. "Are you quite finished questioning me?"

"Oh." She frowned at him. "Well, you can ask a question about me. Go ahead. I'm sure there's something else you want answered."

He considered this for a moment. Her confidence - mixed with a healthy dose of insolence - was beginning to annoy him. And yet, she was right. There was so much still left unknown, and he could not bear being left in the dark. It would please him, he decided, to unsettle her. "Why did my brother not take you as his mate?" he asked.

She promptly forgot her near-promise to answer his inquiries. "Why should I tell you that? You never cared about Inuyasha in the past."

"I still do not," Sesshoumaru replied. "But your situation is curious. Normally, even a hanyou would far outlast a human lifespan. Your immortality would have been ideal, and yet he did not choose you. Did he choose the clay miko instead?"

Kagome took a step back. "I... I don't know. I mean, he didn't, but it was awkward. We couldn't find the monkey demons to get the Jewel back, and then, I got hurt. For the second time in just a couple years, I should have died, but I didn't. That's really when we started figuring it out. The aging thing just confirmed it." She shrugged. "I think it freaked him out a bit. He was a bit scared of me. I don't know. Maybe when I didn't need him to save me, we didn't have anything to hold us together anymore. He just started wandering off for months at a time, sometimes with Kikyo. I stayed in the village as long, as I could stand it. When I couldn't anymore, I left."

"You did not come here first."

It wasn't a question, but she answered anyway. "No. Russia at first." She saw his slight confusion and corrected herself. Russia didn't exist yet, she reminded herself. "Muscovy, I mean. And then all over the deserts of the East. That wasn't particularly fun. So when I reached Egypt, I found a ship and eventually came here. I haven't been to Japan in, oh, ten years."

"I see."

"Why did you come here?"

He shrugged, and it occurred to Kagome that she had never seen him shrug before. For that matter, she had never had a civil conversation with him before, especially one of this length. There was more of a difference in Sesshoumaru than just a new arm, she decided. She tried again. "I mean, did you feel called here?"

He paused. "I felt the desire to go West," he said slowly.

"Me too," she replied. "I fought it for a very long time, but I just couldn't do it forever. Something drew me here. You're not the only one I've run into over the years, either. I've seen those monkey demons too. That's another big coincidence, don't you think?"

The taiyoukai raised an eyebrow. "Very much so. They are immortal now too, I am assuming," he said.

She let out a soft breath - they had reached the crux of the whole matter. At least they were avoiding the topic of Inuyasha. "That's the thing though. That's why I said I'm not really, really immortal. Because they can hurt me."

He straightened, and at his full height, he looked very much like the demon lord she remembered. "What do you mean?"

"It means that I'm actually glad you found me, because I need your help to kill them," she said. "And don't tell me that it doesn't involve you, because it does. It's our responsibility now. I think that we're the only ones that can kill them. And they're the only ones that can kill us. You were caught in that blast too, remember. We're both cursed with this immortality."

"I was already practically immortal."

"Practically immortal is much different than actually immortal, and you know it," she said, picking up steam. "Look, two years after we got caught up in that wish, I was run through with a sword! I don't even have a scar. But when I met the monkey demons in Muscovy..." She paused and suddenly started undoing her bodice. Sesshoumaru blinked, a sort of disgusted shock marring his features. "Calm down. I'm not trying to seduce you!" she added with an exaggerated roll of her eyes.

She pulled aside her chemise and he leaned forward again, staring at the three parallel scars running just under her collar bone. Claw marks, he deduced. "This was ten years ago," she said, shivering from the cold.

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "The skin looks freshly mended," he observed, still looking at the shining white scar tissue.

Kagome pulled her clothing back over her shoulder and redid her ties. "No. Ten years ago. It took forever to heal. Slower than normal, even for a human."

He considered this for a moment. "The youkai wished to be with his family until they desired otherwise," Sesshoumaru said.

"Exactly. So I'm thinking we're the only ones that can really hurt each other, because we're the only ones that can 'desire' to be free from one another." Her jaw clenched as she looked at him. "You're not going to kill me now, are you?"

"I do not care to do so at the moment," he replied absently. He was turning over this new information in his mind, looking at it from every angle as rapidly as possible. If the girl was correct - and he could not smell any deception - the advantages were obvious and numerous. Never again would he have to weigh the possible losses and gains of engaging his enemies in battle. He could decimate an army by himself. The thought was empowering, to say the least.

On the other hand, he now had four monkey demons and a miko that could strike him down as easily as a wheat stalk at harvest. It was only some comfort that he could do the same to them.

"So will you help?"

His hackles raised. There was that word again - 'help' - as if he were her errand boy. Here he was, poised to become the most powerful demon in the entire world, and she wanted him to condescend to become her companion in this self-imposed mission? "Why should I care if four monkey youkai are immortal? Or if you are?"

"Because they're the only ones that can kill you," she replied, her eyes wide with disbelief, "and they could show up tomorrow. We're outnumbered on this one. And don't think that they've been behaving well, either. They're smarter than you'd think. Truthfully, I don't actually think they're monkey demons."

"Kitsune?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. But they're dangerous, and we're the only ones that can stop them. They must be like me. Like you, too! Nothing else can hurt them except for each other. And us."

"I still fail to see why this concerns me," he said. "I have no wish to run around the world looking for troublesome youkai. That is your quest, not mine. I am quite comfortable here. If they cross my path, I will kill them. Otherwise, I do not care." He turned to leave.

"They still have the Jewel! You promised!" she cried, suddenly desperate. She took a breath and looked away as he stared at her with his golden eyes. "You did, though. You promised to help us when we fought Naraku. You said you would help getting rid of - in your words - 'that contemptible Jewel'. And Inuyasha can't help me anymore. I won't let him. Those monkey demons would rip him to pieces. They have no fear of death anymore. You're the only one that can help me."

"Your pleading does not move me," he said. "My obligation ended long ago."

She watched, horrified, as he stepped out of the garden and into the alley. She tripped over the bucket that had held the fireplace ashes as she followed. "I... I know the future," she called after him. "You know I do. Don't tell me that's not useful to you."

He paused again and turned, his eyes flickering up towards the windows of the surrounding homes to look for eavesdroppers before he remembered that no one could understand her but him. Still, it was never a wise idea to shout in foreign tongues during the witching hour, even in London. He stalked back to her, the moonlight giving her the only hint as to where he stepped. He moved exactly like the predator that he was. "Are you proposing a trade?" he asked, coming close.

She swallowed. When she and her friends had first joined up with Sesshoumaru to defeat Naraku, Kagome had insisted that she tell the taiyoukai the truth about her origins. He knew exactly what she held in her head, and she had always suspected that it held more than his passing interest. She supposed this was a resounding confirmation of that particular pet theory. "Yes," she said. This had never been the plan, of course, but she was desperate. "What do you want to know? I'm sure I can help you."

He studied her face with unnerving thoroughness. "I do not care about material possessions."

Kagome successfully willed her eyes not to go to the expensive velvet he wore on his shoulders. "I know. But I know what's going to happen to this world for the next four hundred and something years. You're resourceful enough to work that to your advantage. I could tell you what armies will fall and where..."

"You do not know the specifics I require," he interrupted, pulling back. "You have already informed me that I am immortal. I merely need to seek them out and destroy them myself."

"Not everything is immortal," she replied. "What about your lands? I know things about Japan's future that you can't even conceive of. What then? Are you going to leave everything to melt?"

"I will take my chances."

She set her jaw and discarded the remaining concern she felt for herself. "And what about Rin? Have you protected her?"

He froze. Except for the slight rise and fall of his chest, she would have thought he had turned to stone. And then - so fast that she couldn't see it - he whirled and pinned her to the stone wall. She cracked her head against the rocks and gasped, her ears ringing loudly. "Rin is safe under my protection," he growled. The magic spell concealing his demonic features sputtered and failed as his eyes glowed red.

Kagome wrapped her hands around the forearm that held her in place. "Let me go! I'll purify you!" she hissed. "I can do it in a second. Think about how badly it will burn!"

Sesshoumaru pushed away from her with a languid movement that belied the surprise he had felt at her threat. She would have done it - he had seen it in her eyes. She had become fierce in their time apart, and he realized that he might have underestimated her. She was not a child any longer. He reminded himself that she might be one of only five creatures in the world that could kill him. "Rin is safe," he repeated, his voice smooth and calm, as if they hadn't just been at each other's throats.

She was rubbing at her chest, looking small and human once again. "So she's alive," she whispered.

"Of course. She is mated to my most powerful vassal," he replied. "She shares his lifeline."

Kagome looked at him and leaned back against the stone wall. "I didn't know you could do that. So when he dies, she dies? And the other way around? It sounds like a tricky bit of magic."

"It is not perfect," he admitted. "Sometimes, when one mate dies suddenly, the other will linger for some time. But for the most part, yes, that is the way it works."

The miko thought of Inuyasha's mother, who she knew had outlasted her mate for several years. Perhaps Sesshoumaru was thinking of Izayoi too, but she doubted it. "I'm glad she's doing well," Kagome said. She thought of suggesting that Rin had a lifespan like her own, but realized how foolish it sounded in her own head. Rin shared her life with someone - Kagome was entirely alone. "But she can still die."

"Yes."

"I can do my best to prevent it," she offered. She took a deep breath and rubbed at her temples. She was going to have one hell of a headache in the morning.

"Hn."

He seemed to have retreated into his usual stoicism. That wouldn't do, she decided. She needed an answer. "There are things coming that you wouldn't believe," she said. She crossed her arms imperiously as he gave her a dark glance. "I'm just saying that we can help one another. Not just with these monkey demons, either. I think we should stick together and make sure we don't go all Naraku on the world ourselves."

Sesshoumaru scoffed softly. "That will never happen."

"Oh? You're a bit power hungry, you have to admit. And I'm really, really bitter about... well, a lot." She shook her head. "They aren't exactly good traits when you add immortality into the mix."

"You will not be my keeper," he replied.

"I never said that."

"Hn." He relaxed slightly, which really only meant that he wasn't tensed to rip out her throat. "I will consider it."

She blinked. "All that and a concussion, and you're saying you'll think about it?" she asked.

He frowned. "Your insolence does not lend itself to an answer in your favor, miko," he replied. "I will consider it. And even if I do decide that this is a worthwhile endeavor, I may choose to end it at any time."

Kagome sagged, falling back against the stone wall again. "And if you decide not to help me? Are you going to tell me or just let me wait here forever?"

It was difficult to see in the dark alley, but she was certain he was smirking. "It depends on whether I am feeling charitable," he said.

Panic rose in her chest. "You can't! I mean, I can't stay here anymore. I'm a priestess. I'm a genius, compared to these people! I know calculus and it hasn't even been invented yet! I know words Shakespeare hasn't written yet! But here, I'm treated like dirt, just because I have the eyes of a foreigner."

He was silent for a few moments. "It is not your eyes, but your tongue. Learn English. Do you think that I, even with my concealment spells, look British?" he asked. "You have been wasting your time here. You have assumed that your limited knowledge of the future makes you superior to them. You have been at a great feast of languages and stolen the scraps. But in the end, you are still just another human."

She swallowed thickly, and her voice broke. "I'm not though. You need me. We're the only ones that can do this."

"Hn." He turned on his heel and walked down the alley, disappearing into the black.

* * *

Two weeks passed, and Kagome decided to give up the hope that he would come for her. Theresa and Catherine were still moaning that Lord Spenser had not returned to dine again, and the miko refused to pine away like those little ninnies. Instead, she spent every moment of the day either working or listening to the gossiping servants. She was becoming particularly well-versed in insults.

So she was surprised when, as she was hauling water in for boiling the breakfast eggs, Sir Harold's manservant came to the kitchen asking for her. "I am Kagome," she said, with a curtsy, since they had only passed by one another in the halls. The personal attendants never lowered themselves to speaking with the most inferior of the household servants, unless ordered to do so.

"There is a horse waiting for you outside," said the manservant.

All eyes turned to her. Kagome wondered if she had misunderstood. "Horse?"

The manservant tapped his foot. "Sir Harold has released you."

"Gettin' rid of her?" Martha sneered. "Wot's the horse for, then?"

He turned his eyes to her and did a quick appraisal of the kitchen maid. Deeming her worthy of the gossip, he said, "As far as I can tell, Sir Harold received a request from Lord Spenser. He wants the girl so that she may teach him more of her foreign language. He has paid a handsome sum for the trouble." He looked back at Kagome and deposited a few coins into her hand. "There are your wages. Go off. Don't bother the master or mistresses and leave out the back."

Even Martha was struck silent at the announcement. A scullery maid to become a tutor to a lord? It was unheard of. Kagome had to smother her urge to laugh. She put down her pails of water and skipped up the steps to the attic where she shared the room with the three chamber maids. She added the money the manservant gave her to the small pouch that she always kept under her skirts, and then she pulled out the one thing that she kept in her room - the simple, cotton kimono that she had been wearing when she arrived in London. Wrapping it in a spare bit of brown paper and twine, Kagome ran out again, not bothering to look back at her home of almost four months.

The manservant was gone, and the kitchen was abuzz with whispers as she rushed through. "Here's a good-bye and God-bless for you!" huffed Martha.

Kagome ignored her. She opened the kitchen door, ran through the small garden and down the alley to where a large chestnut mare stood. A groom in fine livery was waiting alongside his own dappled filly. His eyebrow arched at the dirty girl that came towards him to bob a curtsy.

"Well, I can tell that you're her," he said. "Come on." He lifted her into the ladies' saddle. "Don't you have anything besides yourself and that bit of nothing?"

She shook her head as she tied her small bundle to the mare's flank.

He frowned as he mounted his own horse. "Don't see why you needed a mount then. It's only a three hour walk. But you'll find our lord has some strange ways about him. Let's go. Haven't got all the time in the world."

Kagome smiled as the horses began to move down the street. "I have," she murmured.

* * *

A/N: That was enjoyable, as I've just finished an extended vacation in London. I'm hoping I got everything accurate, historically speaking. I did try.

Sesshoumaru did quote Shakespeare, by the way (altering only the first word) - "They have been at a great feast of languages and stolen the scraps." It's from _Love's Labor's Lost_(Act 5, scene 1) and would have been on stage around this period of time for the very first time. The quote is slightly out of context, but the gist is the same. Sesshoumaru is obviously a fan, even if he doesn't come out and say so. Hehe.

Please review!


	3. 1598: London

A/N: I foolishly forgot to mention this with my last update, but "The Once and Future Taiyoukai" won Best Romance and Best Canon over at Dokuga for the 3rd quarter! Yay! Thank you so much, everyone! Someone asked awhile ago if I plan to post this story on Dokuga, now that SingleSpark is out of commission. Frankly, I don't know. Should I? Opinions requested! If there's a huge call for it, I would be happy to do just that.

In addition to Dokuga, the IYFG's awards for the 2nd quarter have come out. "The Once and Future Taiyoukai" won 3rd place for Best Characterization (Sesshoumaru) and Best Drama, and it won 2nd place for Best Romance: Other! Yay! Thank you to all the voters/readers/nominators there too!

And last but not least, in news not TOaFT-related, the wonderful Ijin wrote a delightful little one-shot that fits in between the previous chapter and this one. It's called "London, 1597", and it's darling - everyone should read and review it! Here is the link (without the spaces):

www . fanfiction . net / s / 4518310 / 1 / Besides

Thank you to Ijin for the tribute - I hope this story can live up to it! :D

Have I forgotten anything? Probably. Sorry for the lengthy wait - it's been a hellish month. Be forgiving with typos, as I'm suffering from severe sleep deprivation. Anyway, read and review!

Beside You in Time  
1598: London, England

Kagome yawned and rolled her shoulders. "This is getting ridiculous," she said, as another chamber maid jerked awake with a soft cry. "Everyone can go to bed, except Thomas. Sorry, Thomas, but someone has to take in the horse. I can't do that too."

The groom straightened in his chair and nodded. "Yes, miss. Of course I'll stay awake. But what about the steward? He told us all to remain awake for the master's return."

The four other servants exchanged looks of discomfort, and Kagome sighed. The chief steward was the manager of the household, and they were supposed to all listen to his orders. In any other manor, Kagome would have been dismissed long ago for the liberties she took in defying him, both as a woman and as a servant of inferior rank. It was a source of great speculation why she was allowed to remain. "If he gets to go to sleep, so should we. If he has a problem with it, he can speak to me in the morning," Kagome replied, her mouth set into a hard little line.

The maids got to their feet and curtsied at the foreign woman, whispering amongst themselves as they left. Kagome watched them leave along with the glow of one of the candles. She shouldn't let them waste the tallows, but it was a moonless night, and she would prefer a few melted candles to a broken ankle. She sighed again and shifted her weight, drumming her nails on the table. "Did he say he would be so late, Thomas?"

"No, miss," the groom replied, rubbing at his face to stay awake. "But then, the master rarely speaks to _me_." His eyes moved to look at her face immediately, to watch for a reaction, but she didn't pause in her fidgeting.

"Soon, he can put his own horse in the barn and prepare his own bed," she muttered.

Thomas smiled and tugged down on his doublet where it was riding up on his waist. "I doubt that, miss," he said. "They never can do much for themselves, can they?"

Kagome laughed softly in spite of herself. Getting to her feet, she threw another log on the dying fire, more for Thomas's sake than her own. It was getting draftier at night as they moved towards winter. This place had once been a monastery - one of the many properties taken by Henry VIII when he broke with Rome decades earlier. Sesshoumaru had masons and carpenters around all the time to fix up the medieval stone structures, but there was only so much that could be done without proper, more modern tools. "You'd know better than me, Thomas," she said. His family, she knew, had served the nobility in this area for as long as even they could remember. Thomas had come a long way from the tenant shepherds in his ancestry to become the chief groom of the residing lord.

"Lord Spenser is more capable than most," he conceded. He looked at her carefully. "Do they have lords and ladies where you're from, miss?"

The priestess smiled. "Yes, they do. It's actually quite similar, except that my country just united a short time ago. We didn't have one leader for a long time but many, and they fought against one another for years and years."

"Sounds dangerous, miss."

She nodded. "Yes, it was," she replied softly, looking into the fire. She took a breath and brightened. "But I'm here now."

Thomas smiled. He had never traveled farther than London and probably never would. The idea of any one person, especially a lone woman, traveling across the world was beyond imagination. He had been there when she first arrived at the manor - she barely spoke English, and she was nervous around everyone. It was a far cry from the articulate, confident woman that she was now. Of course, no one was precisely sure of her place here - her only official duty seemed to be a few hours in the master's company a week, when an eavesdropper would say that they spoke in strange tongues - but it was certainly was a place of favor. It had been fantastically fun to watch as she grew in power and challenged the generally hated chief steward. In the end, although she was odd and foreign, she had won the rest of the staff's loyalty with her kindness and willingness to use her favor with the master of the house to benefit the rest of them. There wasn't a chore that she wouldn't help with - not even the laundry, which usually reduced a woman's hands to red, blistering mess. His eyes rested briefly on her smooth, pale skin as she swept the crumbs from the servants' supper off the table.

It was still unfortunate though, because Thomas knew she would never find a husband here. As much as the servants had come to like the misplaced girl, none of them would ever consider bringing a foreigner into their families. "Will you go back?" he asked.

She blinked. "Oh, I don't know," she said. "I hope I will someday, but I'm needed here for the time being."

There was a sharp creak of a carriage outside and an unfamiliar shout for a groom. Thomas got to his feet. "A carriage? But the master didn't take one," he murmured, going to the door. Kagome followed.

Sesshoumaru dismounted his enormous roan steed as soon as Thomas appeared, handing over the reins without so much as a glance. The carriage stood farther off, deeper in the dark, but she could see two figures against the sky. The priestess stepped forward with a frown. To come back with company at this late of an hour! She could just strangle him! But she forced herself to keep her mouth shut. Sesshoumaru never paid the slightest attention to her when she was supposed to be acting as his servant anyway. He tossed his short cloak into her arms without a glance and reached up to help the other rider off of her perch. It was always such a surprise to her to see graceful nobility in what these Elizabethans called 'carriages'. It was little better than a wagon, really - they were a long way off from the delicate gilt coaches of the future.

As the figure stepped down onto the ground, Kagome's senses sharpened, and she realized that she could feel not one but two demonic auras colliding with her own. She tipped her head up to see the youkai that was giving off an aura that almost matched that of Sesshoumaru. The demoness looked entirely human, except for perhaps the unusual brightness of her red hair. The miko was sure that anyone else would think it was dyed with a cumin and saffron mixture in honor of the Queen's red locks. But she could tell that this demoness could care less about the fashions that honored anyone else but herself. Her gown was something that Kagome had only dreamed of - only duchesses, countesses and the like could wear gold in these times, by order of Good Queen Bess, and this woman was swathed in it. The embroidered gold silk with a lace ruff tucked into the squared neck line framed her heart-shaped face with her high cheekbones and full lips - there was no doubt that she was a beauty, and Kagome felt a strange, sharp pain in her heart.

Thomas caught Kagome's gaze and raised his brow before he disappeared into the night, leading Sesshoumaru's horse and the noblewoman's coach to the barn. She knew what he thought of this woman - what indecency to ride about after dark with a single man of such inferior rank! But Kagome understood. Youkai had a difficult time with following rules of decorum, even if they had perfected their physical disguises. She could almost sympathize, she thought, with a tug on her cap to keep her hair hidden.

"Priestess," greeted the youkai with a smile that did not reach her shining, brown eyes. She turned immediately to her companion. "So it's true that you keep her in your very house." She spoke in Japanese, but it was heavily accented. Kagome had heard enough tourists in modern day Tokyo to know that the demoness was not English, but German.

Sesshoumaru looked at the miko, as if noticing her for the very first time, but spoke to the demoness. "Yes. We have an agreement of sorts," he replied. He focused on Kagome. "Bring some ale to the study and then prepare a room for the countess."

The miko curtsied again, but they were already brushing past her and into the candlelit entryway. She walked towards the kitchen and gathered the necessary items, placing it all onto a pewter tray, letting it balance precariously on her hip as she made her way towards the study. Once she got there, she saw that Sesshoumaru had already lit a fire himself and was settling behind his desk. The countess was arranging her skirts so that she could sit on the other side, finishing up as Kagome came close. In the firelight, the miko could see the demoness's delicate features and the way her hair glittered with tiny ruby ornaments. Sesshoumaru had undone the top clasps of his doublet in a rare display of relaxation, which made him look more rugged and dangerous.

She considered the countess silently as she set out the two cups and the pitcher of ale. She was very beautiful, Kagome reaffirmed. Sitting so close to Sesshoumaru only enhanced her beauty - despite the trappings of their finery, they both exuded a panther-like grace that was rather terrifying and thrilling at once.

"So, what is her name?"

The miko was jerked out of her musings by the amused lilt in the countess's voice. "My name is Kagome," she said in English, ignoring Sesshoumaru's annoyed glance.

The demoness's lips curled into a wide smile, and she obligingly switched to English along with the servant. "And I am Gisela, Countess von Triberg-Todtnau. Lord Sesshoumaru tells me that you've known each other for some time."

Kagome looked at the taiyoukai with no small amount of surprise. No one in London knew his real name - the few demons that had visited over the past two years addressed themselves to 'Lord Spenser'. But if Sesshoumaru wasn't the one to tell the countess his real name, he didn't seem particularly disturbed to hear it from her mouth. "I am a friend of his half-brother's," Kagome replied reluctantly.

"And now, here you are, with Lord Sesshoumaru," the countess continued, as if Kagome hadn't spoken. "Tell me, do you enjoy living in England? There aren't many demons here. Not a place that really needs a miko and certainly not a place where you can exercise your powers."

Kagome felt her cheeks growing warm. "Miko don't just go around killing demons," she said. "I don't have a problem with all of them. They're only a problem when they try to kill people."

"People? As in humans?"

"Yes, and any demon that's trying to live peacefully," Kagome replied firmly. "I don't discriminate."

"Well then, you are a rare gem," said the countess, still smiling her catlike smile, as if it were permanently fixed to her face. Her eyes flickered towards Sesshoumaru and something passed between them, unspoken.

"You are dismissed, miko," said the taiyoukai. "Go prepare the Rose Room for our guest."

The girl blinked. "What?" She had always attended meetings between Sesshoumaru and other demons - it was so much easier than having the laconic taiyoukai repeat the conversations later. Of course, such meetings were usually boring reports about Sesshoumaru's home territory or even more tedious reports from spies that could not find any sign of the monkey demons they sought. "Don't you..."

"This is none of your concern," Sesshoumaru interrupted. His concealment spell was beginning to fade, as it sometimes did when he was particularly annoyed, and her heart leaped into her throat to see the golden eyes turned upon her again. "Leave."

There wasn't anything she could do - she left. It wasn't until she was half-way to the linen closet that she remembered Sesshoumaru's request - to make up the Rose Room. Her heart leapt into her throat. Normally, guests slept in the White Room, on the opposite end of the house from Sesshoumaru's own apartments. The White Room was spacious and had the loveliest view of the Thames - it had been the room where the monks had once laboriously copied their books. It still smelled of vellum and ink, and was Kagome's favorite room.

The Rose Room, on the other hand, was small and dark. It had a stained glass rose window, for which the room was named, but it had been used as a private chapel for the abbot of the monastery. The large bed and cabinet filled the space, and although it connected to another, larger living room, it was not entirely comfortable.

It was also right next to Sesshoumaru's apartments.

So it was with considerable contemplation that Kagome took the linens into the Rose Room and began making the bed. The mattress was stuffed with straw - only Sesshoumaru had one of feathers - and she had to shake it to get the more obvious lumps out of it. As she tucked the quilt around the edges of the four-poster frame, however, she couldn't help but wonder if this was all for show. Would the countess really be sleeping in this bed?

She finished as quickly as possible and walked into the other room to open the heavy velvet drapes. Already, the hazy gray of early dawn touched the horizon, and she comforted herself with the thought that soon enough, the servants would be awake, and Sesshoumaru would be expected at the breakfast table. He never missed breakfast, unless he was in London or elsewhere for the night. He didn't want to appear slothful, he had told her once, when she had teased him about it.

"Oh, this is silly," she chided herself quietly. Who cared if Sesshoumaru decided to sleep with the German countess? It certainly wasn't her concern - he could sleep (could have already slept!) with dozens of women, both demon and human. She wasn't his keeper and certainly not his wife. She was here to take advantage of their alliance and nothing more.

Rolling her eyes, she left the room and walked the short distance to Sesshoumaru's apartments. He had three whole rooms for his private use, but she only had to turn down the bed and make sure the chamber maids had remembered to leave everything the way he wanted it. Sesshoumaru could be particular about the way his bed hangings were tied back, where his books were replaced on the shelf and the thoroughness of the maids' dusting. He was rather a prima donna, now that Kagome thought on it. Remembering the scathing comments he had uttered the last time a maid had forgotten to leave fresh jug of water at his bedside, the miko suddenly hoped he _would_ sleep with the countess. Maybe she would mellow the uptight idiot out a bit.

She turned into his room and promptly ran into said "uptight idiot". "What are you doing here?" he asked, looking down at the top of her head.

Kagome rubbed at her nose, where it had smacked into Sesshoumaru's chest. "Think your bed turns down itself?"

He side-stepped her and went into the hallway. "Leave it," he said. "The sun is rising, and you have other tasks. I am not sleeping tonight."

"You could at least get a couple hours," Kagome said. "You like to appear normal, remember? Well, normal humans need sleep."

"You do not," he commented.

She shrugged. Another side effect of being immortal, but it was true that she didn't need to sleep. She liked to, though. For her, it wasn't about appearing normal, but _feeling_ normal. "And tonight, I won't. But you should. What's so important that you have to talk to the countess at this ungodly hour?"

"That does not concern you," he said, and for the first time, she noticed that he held a sheaf of papers in his hand. Maps, she identified. "You do not care for her."

Kagome blinked, thinking she had been caught staring. "What? Oh, the countess." She shrugged. "She's fine. She reminds me a lot of you, so what's not to like?" she asked, her voice rising with sarcasm.

"Hn." He turned away. "Do not disturb us until breakfast. We will take both breakfast and lunch in the study."

"Sesshoumaru?"

The taiyoukai paused, which she took as a sign to continue. "Can you at least tell me if this has anything to do with going home?" she asked. "Last week you said you'd think about it. Will this little conversation with the countess help or hurt our chances of going back to Japan?"

He looked at her over his shoulder. "I do not understand this irrational desire to return to a place which you have admitted makes you so uncomfortable with your predicament. You know it is likely that your human friends are dead. It is possible that Inuyasha is dead as well, except for his irritating habit of surviving, despite any odds. The fox kit has probably left to find his own home and family."

She nodded. "I know that's all possible, but possible isn't good enough. I need to know for sure. And if they are alive, I want to see them again." She glanced around the dark hallway. "This... you said this was temporary. But we haven't found those thieves and certainly not the Jewel. Why are we staying if it doesn't do us any good?"

"Would you rather wander aimlessly on the Continent, without the guarantee of food, water and clothing?"

"I would rather get this whole thing over with," she replied, her mouth turning down at the corners.

"If you wish to leave, do so. I prefer to act with more forethought than you," Sesshoumaru said.

She sighed, her shoulders sagging. "That's not what I meant."

"If you cannot be precise, remain silent," he said. His eyes lifted to the small window at the end of the corridor and noted how the sky was slowly turning pale yellow. "I have kept the countess waiting. Get to your duties. I expect breakfast to be on time."

Kagome turned away as he went down the hall. She knew she should be angry at the taiyoukai, for his rudeness and the way he constantly dismissed her concerns. They had been here for two years, after all, and they hadn't received any reliable information about the Jewel or the thieves. And yet, she couldn't summon the energy. Sesshoumaru's reluctance to leave a position of power and comfort in favor of what would possibly be a wild goose chase around the world was understandable. And he had always been a jerk. Two years as his servant left no delusions about that.

Still, she wished that he would understand her side of the matter. England was not her home, and if she had to tarry for long periods of time, she would prefer that it was in Japan. She stepped outside into the early dawn, and the dew seeped into her long skirts and her rough leather shoes. England was so gray, she thought, as she picked her way across the muddy stable yard. Sometimes, she was happy here, during the faires and feasts and the revelry that the English seemed to immerse themselves in on every available occasion. Boxing Day was becoming a particular favorite, if only because she thought it good for Sesshoumaru's character to be generous at least once a year. Seeing him surrounded by his tenants' children as he handed out a few coins and sacks of grain to their grateful parents was one of the few times the taiyoukai seemed human.

But usually, Kagome was indifferent, if not depressed. The Portuguese were starting to make regular trips to Japan as missionaries and traders, and the English were worrying about what such foreign riches could mean for their country. Although she was not in the habit of rubbing elbows with the nobility, who fretted over such things constantly, her Asian features raised the subject even amongst the poor that she met on the street. Even those she worked with, like Thomas a few hours ago, were comfortable enough with her to ask her about Japan. Every time she spoke of her home though, she could only wonder if her memories were still accurate and if Japan was really as beautiful and dangerous as she remembered.

She walked past the stables and towards the chicken coop. The acrid smell of chicken droppings emanated from the tiny structure, despite the chill of the morning and the heavy dew. There were fresh scratch marks around the door. "Fox," she muttered, smiling despite herself. They had the most secure chicken coop in the county, thanks to Kagome's more modern ideas about security, but she had to admire the little creatures' persistence. She shot a look towards the old hound lying in the cool dirt next to the coop. "I think you don't mind them so much either, Oscar," she said, causing him to lift his head. "Do they amuse you too?"

Opening the door, she held her hand over her mouth to mask the smell and then went inside. The rooster gave her an indignant little crow as he trotted out, but the hens lay quietly in their spots. She reached under one after another to find the brown little eggs and to place them in her gathered up apron, absently wishing for a supermarket a few centuries early to materialize in the barnyard. One of her least favorite people materialized instead.

"Why did you send the servants to bed against my orders?"

She glanced at Garrick where he stood some distance from the coop. The chief steward was balding, pudgy and constantly sweating - even as she tried to stop herself from wrinkling her nose at him, Kagome marveled at his ability to have a sheen of perspiration on his brow so early on this cool morning. As Garrick glared at her, Oscar moved between him and the coop entrance, his ears pricked forward in rare attentiveness. Kagome felt a rush of warmth for the old dog. "They were falling asleep, Steward," she replied, using his title instead of his name. "Thomas and I did everything Lord Spenser required. You didn't need to keep all of us awake."

"My orders will not be ignored by a woman!" he snapped. "Especially an uneducated heathen like you."

Kagome bit her lip and turned her face away. It was too early for this, she groused silently, as she found another egg. "Look, it was late. And for some reason, you decided to assign that two-person job to every maid who is half-way competent in the morning. I decided Lord Spenser didn't want his breakfast in his lap because Gertrude couldn't keep her eyes open. Or shall we ask him?" She bent her head to frown at him.

Garrick glowered back at her, and she steeled herself from visibly recoiling. It was probably the only reason he got anything accomplished as steward - everyone on the staff hated him, but he was rather intimidating, despite his fat belly and ridiculous tufts of hair over the ears. "There is no end to your cheek," he said, jabbing a sausage-like finger towards her. "You have no respect for your intended place in this world, and sooner or later, you will fall from your heights. Then you will be on the streets, no better than a flea-bitten dog."

Oscar let out a soft growl. Kagome stood in the doorway of the chicken coop with her apron gathered around the eggs. A smile began to form at the corners of her mouth - as intimidating as he was, the chief steward was no great wit. He was just one of those contrary people that one met in life every so often - someone who had some sort of inherent inability to be pleasant in the least bit. Kagome enjoyed the power she had over him, and the futile way he protested this, but she also tired of him quickly. It was time to end this unwelcome distraction. "At least dogs are useful," she commented, "which is more than I can say about you, Steward. Tell me, did you have nothing to do this morning? Is that why you've decided to interrupt my work? I will be sure to tell Lord Spenser that you need more to occupy yourself when his breakfast arrives late."

"You will tell him nothing of the kind," Garrick replied, lowering his head like a bull about to charge.

Kagome straightened at that - her relationship with Sesshoumaru was her trump card. If the steward ever got too obnoxious, she need only drop their master's name, and Garrick would make a quick exit. It was the only way life with him was bearable. He didn't understand why Sesshoumaru kept Kagome around - no one did, of course - but he at least knew enough not to push their master's favorite servant too far. "Oh?" Kagome asked, a moment too late to be truly flippant. "And why do you think you can stop me?"

Garrick was about to speak, to spill whatever poison he had come up with that gave him power over her, but another call came first. "Kagome!" Gertrude stood on the back steps of the kitchen. "Kagome, have you got the eggs?"

The miko tried to cast the steward a look of unperturbed superiority as she pushed past him with Oscar on her heels. "What are talking to him for?" Gertrude asked when Kagome came up the steps. She shooed away the hound that tried to follow them inside the warm kitchen. "Not you, Oscar! Out!"

"Be nice to him," Kagome said quietly, her confident expression melting away. She went to the wooden table and began unloading the eggs into a bowl, where they clinked together with dull thuds. "He was trying to protect me."

"From him?" Gertrude asked. She lifted her prominent chin and tossed a nasty look at the door, as if Garrick would come through any moment. He wouldn't, of course - he knew better than to stray into the kitchen unless he was on an express errand. It was like walking into the lions' den for all the hatred held against him there. "All you need with that one is some salt!"

Kagome smiled gently at the oft-used comparison of Garrick to a slug. "He was... he was just acting oddly. Which isn't so odd, for him, I suppose." She shrugged as she put a kettle over the fire. She really didn't want to talk about the steward. He had rattled her too easily, and all the miko wanted was to get her bearings back.

"Not jus' old women, 'e's botherin' now, then?"

Kagome turned to Susannah, the seamstress, who was sitting in her usual seat by the fire with her hands full of the mending. Kagome knew that the seamstress was arthritic and the warmth made the work go faster and easier and had ensured that she had this permanent place. "What do you mean, Susannah?" the priestess asked, raising her voice so the ancient woman could hear her.

Susannah glanced at the miko with her watery blue eyes as she made quick work of a tear in one of the chambermaids' chemise. Old, deaf and arthritic she might be, but the crone still had her wits, and Kagome had learned to listen when she spoke. "'e was pokin' about in 'ere too," she said.

"Garrick? When?" Anna, one of the other kitchen maids, asked.

"This mornin'," Susannah replied with an exasperated glance at the young woman. "Think I would 'ave kept that quiet?"

"No, Susannah," Kagome replied for the maid, who was blushing deeply. "We're just surprised. He never comes into the kitchen if he can help it."

The old woman shrugged, and they could almost hear her joints creaking. "Was early mornin', wasn't it? Nobody was 'ere, 'cept me an' the cat." She nodded at the fat, orange tabby lying underneath one of the cupboards. Kagome remembered the fight she had had with Sesshoumaru about the feline - he hadn't wanted to replace the tom that had stayed in the kitchen. Unnatural, he had said, that a cat would prefer a kitchen over its proper place in the barn. Kagome had put the cat out for a few days, but the day after she had handed the taiyoukai some bread nibbled on by mice, the cat had been found inside once again.

"What did that rat want?" Gertrude asked. Although Anna was crowned with golden curls, Gertrude was, in some ways, lovelier. Prominent chin aside, her green eyes and auburn hair had done a lot to attract Garrick's unwanted attention. In return, he had gained a particular enemy in Gertrude.

Susannah rocked back a bit in her chair. "Mostly wanted to know 'bout the master," she said. "I'm close to the only one that can remember 'is father."

"His father?" Kagome straightened up and looked at the others.

Anna nodded, her locks bouncing around her cheeks. "He left years ago for Italy with his new wife. Even my mother wasn't born yet." Anna was the youngest of seven living children in one of those lucky families that had had more births than deaths. "The steward back then got some money and instructions every once in awhile, but we didn't hear anything until we found out about the plague."

Gertrude and Susannah crossed themselves, and Kagome felt her blood run cold. It had been awhile since the plague presented itself with any force in London - quarantines kept true danger at bay. But she had traveled Europe and the East before coming here, and that had taken her through more than her fair share of plague-ridden towns. The stench of rotting bodies seemed to fill her nose as imaginary flies buzzed around her head. "So he died in the outbreak?" she asked.

"They all did," Gertrude supplied with a soft voice. "The son too, we thought, until Lord Spenser showed up to claim his birthright. His cousin was right mad about that, I can tell you. Although if I were him, I'd be glad to leave the house to Lord Spenser. Bad luck follows you, even from Italy."

"_Especially_ from Italy," Anna corrected. It was the unbending anti-Roman Catholic sentiment of the younger generations.

Kagome wasn't listening any longer. Sesshoumaru, as a thief! It was hardly something to skate over without consideration. And not just a thief of a loaf of bread or even jewels, but an entire barony! She had always assumed - and never asked - that Sesshoumaru had gained his land and his home on his own merits. That seemed rather silly to her now, of course - he might have been knighted if he had done something particularly fantastic in the name of the throne, but the English were quite possessive of their inherited titles. Why had this never occurred to her before?

"Well, no bad luck followed Lord Spenser," Gertrude was saying. "Twenty years and he still looks like a youth, although he must be getting on towards forty."

The miko's eyes widened. "T-twenty? Forty?"

Anna went on, heedless of her friend's shock. "Doesn't gamble or go carousing late at night. All that coin that he doesn't waste. Fine furniture and finer figure." She sighed. "And those gorgeous gray eyes. A perfect man!"

"Perfect enough for some things anyway!" Gertrude added, making the pair collapse in a fit of laughter.

Susannah - a Puritan at her most liberal moments - huffed quietly and looked towards Kagome. The miko nodded and clapped her hands once, trying to ignore they way they were shaking. "Okay, okay. Enough standing about and enough gossip," she said, her voice barely loud enough to hear over the beating of her own heart. "We have to make breakfast for two quite quickly."

The rest of the servants began to trickle into the kitchen from their beds or early morning chores, and Kagome was soon swept up into helping the cook with Sesshoumaru's breakfast and setting the agenda for the day. It was almost winter and there was a lot to do before the first snowfall of the season. She directed some of the men to patch the stable's roof and the women to wash the linens for the last time that year, and she calmed down as the kitchen swelled with activity. As servants took mouthfuls of some thin oatmeal prepared by Anna, she slipped out and walked the short, covered path to the main house.

"You're late," Sesshoumaru said, not lifting his head as she entered the study.

"By a couple minutes," Kagome replied, placing the tray on his desk and setting out the plates. "Good morning, countess," she murmured with a slight bend of the knee, addressing the woman that watched her so carefully.

Gisela was dressed less extravagantly this morning, in green velvet trimmed in silver. With her red hair, she looked rather like a Christmas ornament, but beautiful nonetheless. Somehow, she was more daunting in the less formal gown - the air of relaxation about her made Kagome inexplicably nervous for a moment. But as Sesshoumaru took his plate from her hands, Kagome remembered precisely why she was so on edge, and that it had nothing to do with the countess. "How long have you been here in England?" she asked in Japanese.

The taiyoukai glanced up and frowned. "I am in the middle of something, miko. This will wait."

"No," she said, drawing out the vowel, "I don't think it can, actually."

Sesshoumaru and the countess exchanged a look, and Kagome let out a short, exasperated sigh. What power did this woman have over the taiyoukai? "Why do you say that?" the dog demon asked.

"Will you answer my question first?" she replied, familiar with the way Sesshoumaru gleaned information without giving any out himself. "How long have you been in England?"

He frowned, leaning against one arm of his chair with his fingers over his lips. "You already know," he deduced. "I am surprised it took you so long to ask, miko."

"I didn't. The girls were talking about it," Kagome replied. "I trusted that you wouldn't do anything so foolish as this! Twenty years, Sesshoumaru? It's ridiculous. How did you possibly think this would work?"

The dog demon shrugged lightly, seemingly unaffected by any of her insults. "It will be rectified." He cast another glance towards Gisela.

"Why are you so anxious about this now?" asked the countess. Her tone was kind, but there was a sharpness in her gaze that made the miko uncomfortable.

"Garrick, the chief steward, has been asking about Sesshoumaru. And about the human that died in Italy that was the original Lord Spenser and Sesshoumaru's supposed father," she said.

Gisela turned to Sesshoumaru. "In that case, I must insist," she said to him.

"Insist on what? What's happening?" Kagome asked, before the taiyoukai could respond. She bit her lip. "You _have_ stayed too long, haven't you? And people are starting to figure it out."

The taiyoukai leaned back in his chair. "Your human minds are so limited," he muttered.

"Whatever," Kagome said with a huff. She looked at Gisela. "Tell me I'm wrong."

The countess tapped her long nails on the desk and watched the dog demon as she spoke. "There have been circumstances when a demon could live with humans without aging for quite some time. The problem is not that a human notices, but which human notices."

"And which one noticed? Besides Garrick, I'm assuming?" Kagome asked.

Gisela gave her a sidelong glance. "I'm afraid that's none of your concern," she replied, not sounding apologetic at all.

"But this is why you're here."

"Yes," the countess said. "My job is to get Sesshoumaru out of England and to ensure that when he comes back, he will not be recognized as Lord Spenser."

The miko nodded. "I'm going with him," she said.

"That is _not_ part of my job," Gisela replied.

"No, but it's mine," Kagome said.

The countess frowned, but shrugged. "Perhaps it will be to our benefit," she murmured. "Very well. I will arrange passage for you too, miko. You will be sailing a fortnight after St. Crispin's for the Continent. From there, you may go where you wish, but I advise leaving Europe for some time."

Kagome met the taiyoukai's stare. "And where are we going?" she asked softly.

"I thought you wished to return," he replied.

She had to work hard to suppress her smile. "I do. I just didn't think..."

"I had no reason to leave before today," Sesshoumaru interrupted. "Now that the occasion has arisen, I wish to ensure that all is going well in my kingdom. It is the logical place to go, since we are being forced from the place where we should be."

Kagome didn't comment on this cryptic remark - she had no idea how much the countess knew about the Jewel and their predicament. It was unfortunate that they had to leave though. She and Sesshoumaru had long since decided that the coincidence of running into one another and the coincidence of Kagome running into the thieves in Russia was too much to ignore. The six of them were being drawn towards each other - a side effect of the curse to stay together forever, they imagined. Unfortunately, the curse was not considerate enough to give them an exact address, and they did not know how far the pull of it extended. They had no idea if the thieves were in London, England or Europe. But the feeling that they were in the right place to wait had not yet faded, and while Kagome was willing to make the sacrifice, she knew that Sesshoumaru was loathe to leave. It would mean starting all over again.

But she hardly minded if it meant seeing her friends again. She nodded towards the pair of demons. "Well, I'll be ready," she said. "What are you going to do with the house? And the staff?"

"As far as anyone knows, Lord Spenser is taking an extended trip to the Continent," Gisela said. She leaned across the desk and touched Sesshoumaru's wrist with her long fingers. "I'm afraid he will have a tragic riding accident in the Black Forest when he visits me. As for you, we can tell the truth. You are returning home after your master's demise."

Kagome was uneasy with the way the countess let her touch linger on the taiyoukai. "Lovely."

The corner of her mouth crooked into a half-smile, and she sat back again. "Would you prefer he having a hunting accident? Or perhaps he can drown in the Rhine?"

"It's not that. It's just rather final," Kagome said. "And I know that's the point, but it's still disturbing to fake your own death."

"Think of it as starting afresh," Gisela replied. She looked down at her breakfast, now stone cold on her plate. "I believe I'll return this to you and wait until lunch. Sesshoumaru and I have much more to discuss. You may go now, priestess."

The miko collected the untouched plates, piled them on the tray and walked towards the door. Behind her, Sesshoumaru began to speak in rapid German and Gisela laughed, high and bright.

* * *

It took some bartering to get Kagome on the ship, even if the Countess von Triberg-Todtnau had paid extra in advance. The French captain was not particularly keen on taking a single woman on board, much less one that looked so odd and spoke in a foreign tongue. Sesshoumaru, however, simply handed over a few more coins to ensure that she was given a private room. She would be sleeping in the tiny room with the spare gunpowder and, after promising that she didn't smoke, the captain even said he would lock her inside at night, for her own safety. After seeing some of the grizzled crew, she was most thankful for that. Sesshoumaru only smirked.

"And you cannot wield your powers, even to scare them," he reminded her, as they stood against the rails above deck. "They will throw you overboard for being a witch instead of just avoiding you. These are not men that have learned to live with nature, but against it."

"I know." She winced as another group of sailors laughed lowly behind her. She didn't have to have the taiyoukai's impeccable hearing to know what they were discussing. "You'll know if I'm in trouble, right? And why are these men so much worse than the ones I sailed with from Egypt?"

"I will know," he said, watching as the crew continued to load the cargo from the dock. "And it is actually my presence that makes them so bold. You are an unmarried, female servant in the company of an unmarried nobleman who is leaving his own country. They believe that I have gotten you pregnant and am secreting you away to some foreign relations." He shrugged. "The story grows more outlandish with each retelling."

"Oh, well, that's just perfect. Can't you just tell them you wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole?"

"Then they would probably view you as a challenge. Their curiosity is already piqued."

She sighed. "I think I'd prefer being a witch," she muttered. "I can't actually drown."

"They would be more likely to keelhaul you."

"That's just unpleasant," she said.

"I would imagine that is the point." He straightened as the crew began to shout to one another. Kagome looked up at him with her eyebrows raised - Sesshoumaru had learned a fair amount of French in addition to German and English since leaving Japan. "We are almost ready to leave," he translated briefly, as the crew hustled around them.

Kagome straightened. "Garrick is here," she said, nodding towards the small crowd that had gathered. It was mostly young, grubby boys or poor men that hoped to get a coin or two for helping out with the loading. In such company, Garrick's shiny, bald head and large girth stood out.

"I know. He has friends," Sesshoumaru observed, nodding towards two men on the other side of the wharf. Garrick was no spy - he kept sending them long, conspiratorial glances. As for his friends, they were trying to blend in, but their fine clothes were drawing beggar children. One of them tossed a few coins on the ground, kicking any child that came too close in the ensuing scramble of bodies.

"They don't seem very competent."

"Low-level thugs," Sesshoumaru scoffed. "They are only here to ensure that I am actually leaving. I have not attracted the attention of anyone higher up quite yet."

"Higher up in what, Sesshoumaru?"

He frowned and didn't answer, just as he had not answered any of her questions about this whole business since the countess left.

They soon cast off and began to float down the Thames, leaving Garrick and his friends behind. Kagome and Sesshoumaru watched London drift by. "So, little fortune-teller," he said, using the nickname that annoyed her so greatly, "what will happen to this city?"

She sighed and gripped the railing. "It'll burn," she murmured. "A couple times, actually. But all this? In seventy years, it will be gone." She swept her arm out, gesturing to the wooden structures that lined the banks. She pointed to the spire of Old St. Paul's. "Gone. All of it. But it'll kill the plague that's ravaging the population. And then, they'll rebuild. It'll be beautiful. It will be the center of an empire. The sun never sets on the British Empire, or so they'll say."

"You said it burned twice."

"That's another story. Three hundred more years in the future," she replied. "I don't want to tell it now. It's too much."

Sesshoumaru nodded. There were certain things that Kagome would not tell him - she didn't like the disbelief in his eyes, and he didn't like the way she used words he had never heard before. She told him what she needed or wanted to tell. It wasn't exactly what he had had in mind when they reached their agreement two years previously, but then again, he hadn't known what to expect. Kagome was more of a mystery than the future these days.

"It is unlikely that we will return before then," Sesshoumaru said.

"Where will we go after leaving Japan again? I don't know any other language, unlike you."

He folded his arms. "You will learn. Immortality gives you the advantage of time."

"Just when I learn another language, we'll need to move again," she sighed. "You can't stay anywhere for twenty years again. Neither can I."

"There are only so many languages in the world."

"Or, perhaps when everyone who could have known us here is dead, we can come back to England," Kagome said with a shrug. "We don't even have to wait that long. There are other places in England than London."

Sesshoumaru glanced at her. "I thought you did not like this cold country."

She shrugged again and did not answer. It was pointless to tell the taiyoukai that panic had been swelling inside of her for the past two months. He would hardly empathize, and would probably even give her a harsh reminder that this had been her choice. And it had been - she could hardly complain when the taiyoukai was showing unusual deference to her request to go home. But she couldn't defeat the fear that she would be just as alone in Japan as she was here in England.

* * *

A/N: So, back to Japan! Or will they get waylaid somewhere else? :)

For those of you wondering, there was a resurgence of the plague in Venice from 1575 to 1577. There were no accurate censuses back then, so it would have been a fairly simple matter for Sesshoumaru to convince relatives of the original Lord Spenser that he was the son that no one in England had ever seen. Who knew that Sesshoumaru would be an identity thief? Haha.

And a big thank you (again - see? I told you it would happen a lot) to Ijin, who provided me with the name of Gisela, Countess von Triberg-Todtnau. Gisela isn't a real historical figure of course, but Triberg and Todtnau are real places in the Black Forest region. Tourist attractions nowadays, actually. :) Remember to go read her story! Link is at the top.

Please review!


	4. 1599: Edo

Beside You in Time  
1599: Edo, Japan

Kagome stepped down off of Sesshoumaru's dust cloud and into the snow, breaking the thin crust of ice laying on top of the snow and sinking down several inches. There was another crunch behind her as the taiyoukai allowed his cloud to dissipate into the dry air. "How far is it from here?" she asked.

"A couple hours to the east," he replied, sweeping past her and leaving his neat trail of footprints behind him. He could move with shocking grace through the snow, Kagome had long since discovered. It must be his long legs and stride, she mused as she stepped into his path. Each neat print he had left crumbled as she walked through them like a child, hopping from one to another.

"Couldn't you have brought us any closer?"

"No. Our paths will diverge soon. You will continue to the east, but I must go back to the south and west."

Kagome frowned, stumbling slightly and covering her calf with powdery snow. "And how am I supposed to get to the village alone? It doesn't look anything like I remember it around here, and it's been so long."

"Thirteen years is nothing in an immortal's lifespan. Things move quickly around you as you remain still."

"Oh. Well, that doesn't make me feel better in the slightest." She huffed as snow began to wedge itself into her boot. Cold didn't really _bother_ her anymore - the knowledge that she could not freeze to death kind of took away the chill - but it wasn't comfortable either. "Couldn't you have just flown me to the village?" she asked again. She was whining now, she knew. It wasn't entirely fair though. They had been traveling for _months_, and she was slightly peeved he had decided to stop here - so close and yet so far away.

"If you are so intent upon flying to the village, you are welcome to take a leap off the nearest cliff in an attempt. I will not be taking you."

She rolled her eyes but remained quiet as she trudged along behind him across the fields that were sparsely populated with trees that crouched towards the ground, as if in shame of their wintry nakedness. It was so open, so white, that she felt as if they were the only two living creatures in the world. And if she turned her head away, she could imagine that even Sesshoumaru, with his silver hair and white kimono, melted into the background, and she was alone. But even though she had spent the last three months with the taiyoukai, she couldn't bear doing that for long. "Sesshoumaru?"

"What?"

"You're not really going to leave me all alone out here, are you?"

His golden eyes - he had dropped the concealment spell once they left London, and she had not witnessed its return yet - turned to her over his shoulder. "As tempting as the idea might be after such prolonged, constant contact," he said, pausing for a moment, "no."

"Your kindness is overwhelming," she muttered just as it began to snow again. The white sky above them was swirling with what promised to be a terrific storm, but she simply smoothed back her hair and looked around. "So I'm getting a guide? I know that you sent a message ahead from China with those bird demons. Will one of your servants be coming to take me back?"

He paused beside a long, flat-topped boulder that rose from the ground at least three feet. Kagome climbed on top, sending a cascade of snow over the ledge like a white waterfall. She pulled her collar up as a reflex and looked around the white plain. "Where..."

The taiyoukai interrupted so smoothly that she didn't bother to get annoyed. "Remember our arrangement."

She nodded. "Right. You'll return once a season. If for any reason we need to leave some other time, I'll send word," she recited. They had spoken at length during their trip of how long they would remain in Japan, but had agreed that there was no way to know until they got there. It comforted Kagome to think that Sesshoumaru would be checking on her every few months, but it was also strange to think of leaving him for even those few months. She hoped desperately that there was someone she knew left in Edo. If no one was there, she had already decided to travel to his home in the Western Lands. She wouldn't be able to spend even the few days it would take for a message to reach him before leaving.

The urge to tell the taiyoukai this overwhelmed her, despite knowing that he would not appreciate such sentimentality. When she turned to tell him anyway, she found that he was already walking away. Jumping off the boulder, she moved to follow.

"Kagome!"

There was a flash of red, and suddenly, she was wrapped up in an embrace of shocking strength. Kagome stiffened for a moment in fear before realizing that she knew exactly who this was - his voice, his hair brushing her face and his scent were all so familiar that for a moment, it hurt. She clutched at him. "Shippo," she cried into his shoulder. She pushed back a bit and wiped at her eyes, which were all at once streaming with large tears. The kitsune in front of her looked at her with considerable amusement. "You've grown up!"

The fox demon grinned and shrugged his shoulders - shoulders that were so much broader than the last time she had seen him - and his long, red hair swayed with the movement. The bow had gone missing long ago. "Have I?" he asked, clearly pleased with himself. His face still had some of its childish fatness to it, but his limbs were long, and he matched her height now. He had grown considerably in the years before she left Japan, but she realized that she had still left behind a child. Now he was a young man - about the age Sota had been when she had last seen him.

"You have," she affirmed, sniffing a bit. She pulled him back into her arms for another hug. "I've missed you!"

He laughed. "I missed you too, Kagome." They parted again, but he kept hold of her hand. "How are you?"

"Wonderful. I'm so glad to be back! It was exhausting getting here."

"I thought you didn't get tired," he said with a grin.

"I don't need sleep, but that doesn't mean I don't get worn out from the constant company of a stuck-up taiyoukai every once in awhile."

"You're going to have to explain that whole thing to me on the way back. You hanging out with Sesshoumaru," Shippo said, shaking his head. "But if you're tired, then come on. I'll get you to the village before it gets late."

The stone of fear that had been forming in her stomach for the last few months reminded her of its existence with a painful jolt. She managed to paste on a smile anyway. "Alright. Let's go."

Shippo grinned and they began to wade through the snow. "So, I suppose you want to know..."

Before he could say another word, she broke in, "So, why are you the one that Sesshoumaru found to take me?"

"He didn't," Shippo replied, his eyes widening slightly. He took in the way Kagome's lower lip quivered, despite the smile, but he went along with the distraction. "He sent a message to Suoh, Rin's mate. He's the captain of Sesshoumaru's guard. Anyway, Rin told him to send the message on to me."

"I'm glad she thought of you. But I didn't even know Sesshoumaru had a guard."

The kitsune smiled in a way that told Kagome she had said something very naive. "He has a whole army. He just doesn't use it - it's a point of pride that the dog demons of the West don't need their vassals. There's an elite guard that he keeps to protect his home when he's away. That's what Suoh is in charge of. But we're all pledged to him as soldiers, just in case."

"We?" repeated Kagome, arching one eyebrow.

"My father and grandfather and great-grandfather, all the way back. My whole family has pledged loyalty to the Western Lands," Shippo replied. "I'm the only male left, but I'm still a noble and still his vassal. Even if I didn't want to, I had to answer Suoh's message to come for you. Duty called." He grinned again as Kagome lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of you being Sesshoumaru's soldier," she said.

He let out a soft breath. "As soon as I complete my training with the kitsune master, I'm going to ask Suoh for a place with Sesshoumaru's guard." He frowned a moment. "I suppose I should ask Lord Sesshoumaru personally, now that he's here."

Kagome squeezed his hand between her own. "Why? I mean, you're a soldier in name now. Why do you need to put yourself in more danger?" She looked at his shoulders and his jaw, and suddenly, she found the little boy that had slept on her pillow and begged for chocolates. "You're so young, Shippo. I mean, won't _they_think that you're too young?"

"My family's lands, as small as they were, are gone," he said. "Other demons took them. I want to use my skills to protect people, Kagome. You always said that that was the best part of being a demon - taking care of others. And I have to go through training with them too. It'll be awhile before I'm assigned to a post."

"I suppose," Kagome replied. "But you'll be watching over just a castle."

"And everyone in it," he corrected. "Lord Sesshoumaru has a lot of people working for him, you know. It's a whole city really."

The worried crease of his forehead told her how much he wanted her approval, and she couldn't deny him. It terrified her, but she just couldn't say anything. She comforted herself with the thought that anyone mated to Rin wouldn't let anything happen to Shippo. "Well, I think that as long as you keep yourself safe, that sounds very worthy of your talent. I'm glad you can help them, Shippo." She smiled and shrugged. "And I suppose I can't say that helping Sesshoumaru is so bad. He's done a lot for me in the past few years. I'm not sure he deserves _you_though."

The kitsune's tense expression relaxed at her words. "Tell me what you've been doing all this time," he said. His eyes swept over her green-clad form. "And what you're wearing. That's a strange kimono."

She laughed and tugged down on her sleeve. "It's from Mongolia, and it's called a deel. One of the women insisted. There was an incident involving a herd of goats and my clothes from London. But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself?" she added at Shippo's perplexed expression.

"Just a little," he admitted. "Start at the beginning?"

Kagome grinned. "Alright. From the very beginning."

The next three hours - for Sesshoumaru had calculated the time to get to the village as the time it would take _him_to get there, not those who walked at a normal pace - were spent on Kagome's tales. Shippo listened with rapt attention, hardly interrupting except for a few choice comments about Garrick and compliments after she spoke a few words of English at his insistence.

"So when they saw what the goats had done, the tribe leader's wife insisted upon giving me this." She gestured down her front at the high-collared swath of fabric that wrapped around her. "And after that, we came straight here. Well, we stopped in China, but nothing happened there. Sesshoumaru wasn't kidding when he said he got tired if he traveled too far."

Shippo was still laughing at the image of waking to see one's clothes being devoured by goats. "I'm glad you made it," he managed to say.

"So am I," she said, hugging his arm to her side. "So what's been going on around here?" she asked.

It was out before she could stop it. It was such a natural question, after all, and she had let her guard down. Now it was out and hanging in the air. Shippo stopped laughing, stopped walking and stopped holding her hand. "Kagome..."

"No." She backed away and waved her finger at him. "I don't want to know. I didn't mean to ask."

Startling green eyes suddenly found hers. "You're going to find out soon enough," Shippo whispered. He looked away. "Should I get Inuyasha? Would you rather him tell you?"

She took another step backwards. "Inuyasha?" she murmured. "He's alive then?"

"Of course," the kitsune replied with an attempt at a smile that made it all that much worse.

Kagome shook her head. "But someone... someone _has_died. Who?" she asked, turning away from him.

Shippo hesitated for so long that she almost screamed, but when she looked back, she could see his face contorting with something rarely seen on a trickster's face - grief. She reached out for him, vowing to not cry, and realized that her vision was already blurring. "Please, Shippo. I can't..."

He interrupted her swiftly, with a precision and a grim, steady look that would work well in Sesshoumaru's guard. "Sango."

Kagome swallowed. "Oh."

The ground seemed to tilt beneath her feet, and Shippo had to lunge forward to catch her before she fell. He held her upright and told her quietly to breathe. It was only then that she realized that the ragged gasps echoing around them were her own. She shook her head and sat down right there in the snow, Shippo following.

"Wh-what happened? Did a youkai...?"

He almost smiled. "No, Kagome. She was old. She got sick and it was over so fast. Nothing could be done. Kikyo tried, but we couldn't..." He paused and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"When?"

"A few years ago," he murmured.

She nodded slowly and then clambered to her feet. "I need to see Miroku," she whispered.

"Come on," he said, searching her pale, blank face. "Don't you want to take a bath first? There's a hot spring nearby." He lifted one eyebrow, but the promise of warmth didn't do much.

She lifted her hand to her cheek and felt a few salty tear stains beneath her fingers. "I just want to wash my face," she said, her voice cracking. "Then I want you to take me to see Miroku."

He did as she asked but did not leave her side. He fussed over her as she carefully wiped the tears from her chin and patted her skin dry. Kagome did not protest the coddling from the young kitsune, nor did she embrace it. Once, he asked if he should fetch Sesshoumaru for her, and she spoke at last. "He'll only say that he was right," she murmured and left it at that.

At last, Kagome stood and tossed her thick mane of hair back. She knew the path from here, of course - this had been the spring where she and Sango had spent so many days of their youth talking about the men in their life. This was where, in later days, Kagome had taken Sango to relieve the arthritis that the middle-aged demon slayer felt in her joints. As Sango had aged and Kagome had remained the same, their trips here together had been less and less frequent. It was one of the reasons she had left - she had felt embarrassed by her everlasting youth in the face of Sango's increasing frailty. Now, such a sentiment struck Kagome as incredibly selfish. Regret weighed down on her as she walked towards the village with Shippo at her side.

The village came into view before she wanted it to. It had grown immensely in just thirteen years - it had already begun to resemble a small city when she had left, and now there could be no denial of that label. Shippo caught her elbow as she moved towards the center, where Miroku and Sango had lived all that time ago. "He moved," Shippo said, guiding her back up the hill.

Several villagers called out to the fox demon as they skirted around the edge of town, and Shippo answered each one by name. Sometimes she saw a brief glimmer of something familiar in a face, but Shippo always shook his head. None of these villagers had been here when she was here last, he kept saying. They were merchants who had come to Edo to make their fortunes. The farmers who had not joined them had moved away. Kagome saw where trees had been cut away to make room for houses, not crops.

It only dawned on Kagome where they were headed when the sounds of the town's market had faded. "The Bone-Eaters' Well?" she asked.

Shippo nodded, his eyes brightening, for she had spoken in more than just a monotone. "A few years ago, we thought it'd be nice to commemorate defeating Naraku."

He didn't need to say the rest - it was built after Sango had died. She knew her friends well enough. "Inuyasha's idea?"

"Yeah. He was kind of picky about how it looked."

"I bet." She could imagine the hanyou modeling the place after what he had seen in the future. She was going to her own home - the ancient shrine she had lived in for the earliest years of her life had been built by her friends to emulate the future. A big, perfect circle. She wasn't sure she could do this anymore. It would be bad enough to see Miroku as an old, broken man - but to see her desperately missed home too? It was too much.

But just as she began to slow down, to pull back a bit, the line of huts ended, and they saw a man in robes standing at the corner of a small shrine house. He was looking directly at them, and Kagome's heart stopped for a moment. "Miroku?"

Although he stood straight, Kagome could see the way he leaned upon his staff. His hair - now white and blending into the snowy background - was still swept back into the small ponytail he had always worn. Her first, ridiculous thought was that she was wrong. This wasn't Miroku, but his father. Or grandfather.

But he moved forward and his smile was unmistakable underneath his violet eyes. "Kagome!" He stretched out his free hand.

Shippo sighed happily as Kagome smiled back at the monk. She stepped forward, but as soon as she touched the monk's fragile, papery skin, her face fell. She began to cry - tears coated her and then Miroku's robes as he gathered her close. "Oh. Oh no," he murmured as he embraced her, "he told you." He glanced over her head to the kitsune. "I told you not to tell her."

"And I told you that that wouldn't work," Shippo replied quietly.

They stood for some time as Kagome cried into Miroku's shoulder. It felt faintly ridiculous - mourning for the wife of the man that calmly held her - and yet, she couldn't stop. Sango was gone, she kept repeating inside of her head. Gone, gone, gone. Miroku would die too. So would Inuyasha and Shippo, in their time. She would last forever. Sango was the first of so many casualties. She cried for so long that Miroku had to guide her back towards the shrine steps, so that he could rest as she wept.

And still, he held her. He continued to murmur soft words of comfort, just as a father would say for his child. "I'm so sorry," Kagome whispered, just as the tears were running out. The sun had moved, and their shadows had lengthened, and she was exhausted. The monk hadn't moved from her side. "I'm so sorry, Miroku."

He smiled softly. "For what, Kagome?"

She pulled away from his shoulder and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. "That she's gone. And that I wasn't here for you," she admitted. "For leaving you alone."

"I wasn't alone," Miroku said. "I had my children, my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren. I had Shippo and Inuyasha. We talked about you everyday, you know. She knew you might not return in time, but all she wanted was for you to be happy and well."

Kagome thought of the woman that had become her sister, and how they had embraced, weeping into each other's hair, before she had left Edo. Sango had said the same thing to her, and she knew that the words were sincere, then and now. She knew that Sango would never begrudge the fact that she had left. She felt a rush of painful joy that she had had such a friend.

Kagome smiled in spite of herself. "This is so weird - you consoling me," she whispered.

"Ah, I've gotten enough of that. She died three years ago for me. For you, she died today."

She looked at her friend and saw the pain still lingering in his eyes. Drawing her knees up beneath her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs, she sighed. "I should have stayed." She looked down the hill at the growing city. "Perhaps I'll stay now."

"No," Miroku said, shaking his head. "You were right to leave, and you'll leave again."

"What? Why? Inuyasha is still here. So is Shippo." She glanced around for the kitsune, but it seemed he had made a quiet exit. He would be back soon enough, she knew.

"They'll leave in time too," he said. "Perhaps not anytime soon, but they will eventually leave. Anyone as long-lived as you three should. Mortals stay in one place for most of their lives because those lives move so quickly. It's all we can do to have full lives in one place, but you can have a full life in a hundred places, Kagome. You shouldn't waste one of the good things that come from your curse."

She shook her head. "I've already missed so much here."

"So have I, out there. Neither of us should regret that," he replied with a smile. He grabbed his staff from where it had been leaning against the steps and stood up, pulling Kagome to her feet and surprising her with his remaining strength. "Should I take you?"

The miko knew what she meant and nodded. "Please."

They walked across the shrine grounds, and Miroku pointed out every feature. The well was still uncovered and Miroku's house was tiny in comparison to the home Kagome would one day have, but it still looked so familiar that she ached. Small offerings decorated the base of the God Tree - a woman was kneeling before it. "I can't believe you take care of a shrine. Isn't there a rule against that?" she said, trying to smile.

Miroku laughed and pointed to a gate, flanked by stone guardians. "Here is the temple that I care for," he said. When Kagome moved, she could see straight down the gate to the small pagoda and the rest of the temple's buildings beyond it. "The village headman's daughter is the miko here, although, unlike you, she has no great powers as a priestess. She still lives with her father and comes here each morning to do those tasks that I cannot do. She spends the rest of the day in the village, taking care of the sick and hungry."

"It's not a village anymore," Kagome replied, looking at the temple entrance with appreciation as they moved past. She had never known that there was a temple close to her shrine - it would be long gone in her era. Of course, Inuyasha would have known that too. She remained silent, hoping that the monk didn't know.

"It is much different. I suppose I cannot help but call it a village," he said, with a shrug.

"You and Sesshoumaru both talk about the world moving quickly," she said, "but I just can't get used to it. I'm still human, even if I'm not mortal. Things change too much for me. It's terrifying."

Miroku nodded. "I'm sure it is. Even Inuyasha and Shippo express their surprise that the world changes this fast. Of course, they're young. I wonder if older youkai feel the same way." He looked up at the sky for a moment. "Either way, terrifying or not, you shouldn't miss it, Kagome. You have a chance to do in one life what it will take my soul many lives to do."

At the edge of the forest, just where a grove would stand in five hundred years' time, they approached a large marker. It was rough stone, but hewn into the five-tiered pagoda shape that represented the five elements of earth, water, fire, wind and the ether. Kagome stood in silence for a moment before stepping up to the stone and running her fingers along the names of the deities of each element. And at the bottom, Sango's name.

Tears came again, although she thought she used them all up. She sat down in front of the stone marker and kept her hand on her friend's name. "This is here in my time," she murmured.

Miroku's staff jingled as the monk started. "Is it?" He sounded relieved.

"Yes, but the engravings are gone," she said, wiping at her face. She took a sharp breath and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

He shook his head. "It's alright. Even stone crumbles, Kagome. I am pleased that it will last until your time. For you to know that it stands for Sango is enough. If anyone could remember, she would want it to be you."

Kagome turned her face away and sobbed into her sleeve. "Why her? It's not fair. I shouldn't have left. I have to live without her _forever_," she cried, "and I miss her so much already. How can I live through all of this without her?"

Miroku knelt down in the earth beside the miko. "I asked the same things," he said, "every night for a year after she died. I came here after the children and the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren left, and I asked. Sango only answered when I asked questions she knew the answer to."

Kagome lifted her head and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"No one knows the answers to those questions, Kagome. How could Sango answer them?" he asked. Smiling, he leaned forward and placed his hand on his wife's name. "I felt better once I could hear her voice again, but I had to say the right things." He paused and his grin widened. "Just like when she was alive, actually."

"Miroku..."

"Go on." The old monk turned to her and gave a nod of his snowy head. "Ask her something she can answer."

Kagome looked back at the silent stone and edged closer. "Sango," she began, closing her eyes. "Sango, I'm so sorry I wasn't here. Do you forgive me?"

And in her mind's eye, Sango appeared, just as young as she had been when they first met and clothed in her embroidered wedding kimono. It was the most beautiful and most happy she had ever been, and she laughed in the miko's mind, just as she had laughed then. Kagome could hear the taijiya's voice echoing inside her head, and although there were no distinct words, Kagome felt her answer. Sango would have forgiven her in a moment.

She opened her eyes again and looked at Miroku, and although she was crying again, Kagome smiled softly. "Feel better?" he asked.

Kagome shook her head. "Overall? Not really," she admitted.

He nodded and stood up. "The gates are always open," he said. Without waiting for a reply, he held out his hand to help her to her feet. "I will take you to stay with my daughter, Taka, and her husband. Do you remember her? They live close to the shrine. Her son's wife just had twins, and they built their own home. Taka has an extra room now."

"That'd be nice of her. Her son was still young when I left," she said. She gave him a look as they walked away from the grave. "I'm surprised at you, Miroku."

"That I didn't invite such a lovely woman as yourself to stay with me?" Miroku asked, laughing. "Ah, Kagome, even I learn to stop asking eventually. Although, if you wish, for old time's sake..."

"Miroku!" she interrupted with an exasperated roll of her eyes. "I was _joking_."

"So was I," said the old monk with a smile. "You see, people do change, Kagome."

"Who said they didn't?"

He shrugged and didn't say anything else about it.

* * *

The gates were open, as Miroku had promised, when she returned late that night. Despite not needing sleep, this was the latest she had been out in quite some time. But, as bad as she felt for thinking it, she had to get away from Taka. It was strange to be treated as a teenager when Kagome remembered Taka herself as an infant, after all. She suspected that Sango and Miroku's progeny couldn't really understand what was wrong with her - with all of them, really. Taka had been given bits and pieces of the fight against Naraku by her parents - a victory there, a defeat here and, of course, the final, glorious battle. It'd been the 'glorious' that had stopped Kagome cold, as she had listened to Taka and her husband chattering away happily about what had become a family legend.

Glorious? She hadn't remembered anything glorious about it. She remembered a lot of blood and screaming and dying. She remembered Inuyasha fighting for his life and her life. She remembered feeling almost useless, until that last moment when she had helped vanquish the evil hanyou. But even that moment hadn't been glorious... it'd been painful. She'd been battered to a pulp, along with all of her friends, and she'd known that there was a body they were already too late to revive. Kohaku had died before the battle had started, and Sango had wept. Miroku had removed his prayer beads silently, without the joy that everyone had expected. Inuyasha had simply stared at Kikyo, who had survived against all odds.

It wasn't just her that the Shikon no Tama had cursed, after all. It was all of them.

She knelt down in front of the grave with her feet tucked underneath her body and touched Sango's name again. "It's okay. They weren't there," she murmured, knowing that it really wasn't alright. It seemed unfair that the only ones that truly understood their pain were dying. Were dead. "You could have been a little more truthful about the worst parts. But I suppose you were just trying to protect them. I really do understand that."

Kagome took a smooth, gray, river stone from her sleeve and placed it at the base of the grave. "I brought you something. I'm sorry it's not food or drink or flowers," she said, turning the stone so that it caught the moonlight. "Oh, I did get this." She drew a small sprig of red berries from her other sleeve and placed it beside the river stone. "It's a pathetic offering, but I hope you'll forgive me for the second time today."

A soft sound of footsteps drew her attention, and she glanced around, annoyed at the interruption. "I'm a miko," she said, loudly enough for a youkai or human's ears, "and not someone you want to mess with."

"No shit."

A smile slowly spread across her face. "Inuyasha, you jerk, what took you so long?"

The red-clad hanyou stepped out of the shadows and crossed his arms. "Keh. You've only been here a few hours. What did you want? A party?"

"Practically got one already, thanks. Taka cooked more than even you could eat in one sitting," she replied.

"Not possible." He moved fully into the moonlight, and Kagome could see how his face had thinned and the small lines at the corners of his eyes. Just like everyone else that was not her or Sesshoumaru, he had aged.

Still, she forced her smile to remain as she moved closer. "How're you?"

"Good." He paused and arched an eyebrow. "Why the hell do you smell like that bastard?"

"Long story."

It was a credit to Inuyasha's maturity that he only crossed his arms and glowered for a moment. "Yeah, I bet. Good thing you don't need any sleep."

Kagome obliged and sat down. "I'll tell you then."

"In the snow?" he asked, eyeing her already soaked clothing.

"Oh. I suppose it doesn't bother me anymore."

He sighed and pulled her to her feet. "Me neither, but I don't like getting cold and wet if I can't help it," he said, wrapping one around around her waist and jumping up into one of the trees that arched over Sango's grave. They spent a few moments getting arranged before Inuyasha spoke again. "Well?"

She looked up at the sky through the bare branches of the tree. "What do you think? I ran into him in a place really far from here called London, and I convinced him that to find and beat those thieves, it'd be better to work together. We didn't have any luck though."

"Not such a long story then."

Kagome laughed quietly. "Well, there's a lot more to it than that, but I'm not sure any of it is very interesting. Not to you. I mean, a lot of it inevitably involves your brother."

"You aren't..."

She rolled her eyes and tried not to utter the dreaded 'sit'. "No, of course not! It's your brother, Inuyasha. It's been three years, and I don't think we're even _friends_."

His ears flicked forward. "How does he manage that?" he asked in interest. "You don't _let_anyone not be friends with you, Kagome. Unless they're trying to kill you. And even then..."

"Oh shut up," she interrupted with a small smile. "I can't help that. But I admit Sesshoumaru might have me beat."

He leaned back against the tree trunk. "Well, you forced me into it," he said, with a bit of amusement lacing his tone. "If anyone can make friends with that bastard, it's you, Kagome."

She grinned. "That might be the nicest thing you've ever said to me, Inuyasha."

"Keh. Don't get worked up about it. I just meant you're irritatingly stubborn."

"Oh, well. That sounds familiar, like someone I know," she teased. Just as the hanyou was about to retort, she shook her head. "Come on, don't fight. Not in the first five minutes we've seen each other after thirteen years. Let's talk about something else. I'll tell you about London later."

Inuyasha crossed his arms. "Fine. Why'd you come back?"

"I suppose you mean why did I come back _now_," she corrected with a sigh. "It was less of a question coming back here than why we had to leave England."

"Well, at least you had good timing."

She followed his eyes down to the grave and pushed away from him slightly. "I couldn't have known!" she seethed.

"Yeah, I _know_," he snapped, turning his face back to her. "I was serious. You told me not to pick a fight! Besides, I missed it too."

Kagome frowned and stilled. "You weren't here when she died?"

"I was killing a youkai a couple days away," he muttered. "They made it sound so important, and I had to leave just as she started getting sick. It was a damn lizard demon. A farmer could have taken it out." His claws were digging into his own palms, and Kagome pried one hand open.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

He frowned at her for a moment and then shrugged. "It's fine," he said, uncurling his other hand. Little droplets of blood rested on his palms and the tips of each claw.

The miko bit her lip. "What did you mean that I had good timing then? If you weren't talking about Sango?"

Inuyasha took a deep breath. "Did you tell Miroku?" he asked, ignoring her question.

"Tell him what?"

"That there are two of those graves in your time," he murmured, nodding towards the marker beneath them.

Kagome squirmed slightly and, for the first time, felt the cold, wet fabric of her clothing pressing against her. "No, of course not. Why would I do that? Besides, the names are worn off of both of them." She frowned as Inuyasha gave her a pointed look. "Yes, I'm now aware that it's probably his grave. But what's the surprise in that? He's going to die. We both know that. While we're at it, why haven't you told him that there's no temple here in my time?"

"I have."

"You... Why would you do that?" she asked, her voice rising in pitch.

He narrowed his eyes. "I think it was pretty much obvious when we were building this place, and I didn't mention a damn temple. He's the one that added that. You think that it was my idea? I wasn't going to lie."

"I'm sorry," she replied quietly. "I just don't think it's fair that we know all this stuff about his future."

"He knows more than you think," Inuyasha said.

It was more than a comment on their friend's wisdom. She looked up at the hanyou. "What do you mean?"

"It means that you really do have good timing," he said quietly. "I told Miroku already. He's dying, Kagome."

Kagome closed her eyes and turned her head away, her lips pressed together. Pushing off suddenly, she dropped from the tree branch and landed hard on the snowy ground. Her ankles protested, warning her that she could hurt herself.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha touched down beside her and grabbed her arm. "Are you okay? What the hell are you thinking?"

She shook him off. "I needed to be on the ground," she ground out. "I can't listen to this. Not today, Inuyasha."

"He knows. Why shouldn't you?" he asked, taking hold of her again.

"I just found out about Sango, and you're dumping this on me too? You jerk!" She shoved him away and turned. When he appeared in her path again, she crossed her arms. "Don't make me say it, Inuyasha!"

"Fine. Go ahead and say it," he snarled, "if that's what will make you feel better. If you listened to me for two seconds though, you might realize that I've been trying to help him, and you could too!" He took a small pouch out from his haori and threw it down at her feet. "I wasn't here to see you get home, because I was getting this from Jinenji."

Kagome stooped down and pick up the little cloth bag, opening it to find finely chopped roots. "Astragalus?" she murmured, her training with Kaede flooding back into her mind. "But that's just for general immunity."

"Yeah, well, we just started. We're not sure what's wrong yet. I can just smell it on him. There'll be a lot more stuff in the spring that Jinenji can give us though. It's been a bad winter and that's all he had left." Inuyasha shifted his weight and looked down. "I shouldn't have told you like that."

"Probably not," she said with a sigh. "But I can't help if I don't know. What does Kikyo say?"

He gave a half-hearted shrug. "She's been helping up north with a plague for a few weeks now. She doesn't know."

Kagome considered the medicinal roots in her hand and put them back in the pouch. Forty years ago, she would have sent Inuyasha to get the older miko immediately, but this time, she only looked at him with a steady eye. "We'll find something to help him. He'll be fine."

Inuyasha nodded. "He says the same thing."

"But?" She could hear it in his voice.

He plucked the bag out of her hands and tucked it back into his sleeve. "But I don't know what he means," he replied. "If he means he'll be fine by living or fine by following Sango."

Kagome bit her lip and felt her heart give a painful beat against her ribs. "I wouldn't have known, if you hadn't told me. He seemed so..."

"Peaceful," Inuyasha finished, and Kagome nodded. "He is. He never seemed bothered by it."

The miko and the hanyou looked at one another. When he reached forward, she didn't move as his claws moved across her cheeks to wipe away fresh tears. Kagome leaned against his touch and closed her eyes. "How does that happen?" she whispered. "His life is so short. Sango's gone. His temple will fall. How does he get peace?"

"Maybe because he can't do anything about it," Inuyasha suggested quietly. "And it's easier when you don't have to see it all happen."

Her eyes opened, and she gave him a small smile. "When did you get so wise?"

"Keh. I've been hanging out with the monks too much." He let his hand drop. "Or maybe, when you left..."

"That wasn't your fault." She winced at his disbelieving glare. "Well, not entirely."

"I didn't want you to leave," he said.

"You had Kikyo. You still do." She smiled and shrugged. "I always knew who came first, Inuyasha. I spent thirty years seeing if you would change your mind. And then I realized that, even if I am immortal, that's not time I should just throw away waiting for something that won't happen."

The hanyou was quiet for a long moment. "I know," he said at last. "You should find someone."

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug. "You're a pretty tough act to follow, you know. It doesn't matter if I do find someone or not. It's the fact that I shouldn't spend my time waiting." She sighed and let out a soft laugh. "I guess I understand what Miroku was talking about now about not staying in one place."

"You'll still stay and help?" he asked, lifting his eyes to hers.

"Of course." Kagome reached forward and took his hand. "Hey, I still love you. All of you. I want you to know that. Just in case."

Inuyasha nodded and glanced at Sango's grave over her shoulder. "We know. We love you too, Kagome."

She smiled. It was probably the closest she would ever get, no matter how many lives she lived. And as they walked back across the shrine grounds, she knew that that was just fine.

* * *

The leaves were turning again, and the chill of autumn was sweeping down from the mountains on a regular basis. The crispness in the air told her that it wasn't just winter that was coming that day though. She wasn't surprised to hear the cry of one of the new monks when the taiyoukai landed in the courtyard.

She turned and made her way to the center of the shrine complex. "It's alright," she called, holding up one hand before the man could through one of his potent sutras. "He's a friend, Juro-san."

The monk paused with his hand half-way towards his sleeve and eyed the dog demon. "Lord Sesshoumaru?" he murmured.

The dog demon arched an eyebrow and gave a slight nod.

"Forgive me." Juro gave a stiff bow and glanced at the amused miko. "Will you be alright, Lady Kagome?"

"Juro, if I wasn't, there's nothing you could do about it," Kagome replied smoothly. "Go. You're going to be late for your meditations."

Sesshoumaru waited until the monk was out of sight. "You are strict with him," he said.

"Is that approval?" she asked. "I don't mean to be. Not like you. Juro is new and needs to learn that he can't just go charging into battle against any youkai he meets. He's very talented, but I think it's gone to his head. It'd be a pity if he ended his talent on your claws. Or anyone else's."

"Hn."

"How have things been going back home? How is Shippo doing?"

He nodded. "Well. I do not have any such scruples as you do in protecting my trainees' feelings, and yet the kitsune excels."

"Of course he is," she replied with no small measure of motherly pride. "But I don't want him guarding _anything_yet. He's too young."

Sesshoumaru gave her a sharp glance. "That is my decision."

"I know, but maybe one you should leave to Rin's mate instead. Since we'll be gone."

The taiyoukai paused. "Then you are finished here?"

"For the time being. I really need to go West." She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. "It's an overpowering feeling. I feel like I'll die if I don't move soon. We need to go back."

"Yes," the dog demon agreed.

"I've already said goodbye," Kagome said, looking at him again. "To most people, anyway."

Sesshoumaru let her lead him across the courtyard. "You have obtained more shrine maidens," he noticed.

"What? Oh, yeah." She waved at the two young miko that were clearing away dead leaves from the herb garden. They bowed as she passed. "They're promising - almost as promising as Juro. I wish I could stay to train them, but that's not really my thing anyway. My own training wasn't particularly formal. I'm not sure I would know what I was doing. But Kikyo promises to train them in my place. She'll be a bit more pinned down, but I think she's actually looking forward to it. As much as she does look forward to things."

They came the grave site, and she knelt down, clearing away the dead flowers that she had left a few days before. She murmured a few words of goodbye and promises to return. Sesshoumaru stood behind her and read the names on the stone. "When did he die?"

She glanced up at him. "A few weeks after you visited in the summer," she said.

He remembered the stench of sickness that wafted off of the old monk that had greeted him three months earlier and nodded. He had known the human would not live, although Kagome had spent the entire visit speaking about her new concoctions and infusions that she hoped would help his ailing heart. She had mourned the lack of something called a 'hospital'.

Kagome arranged a new bunch of autumn flowers at the base of each stone. "It's okay. We tried really hard. And at least I was here this time," she murmured. "We all were."

"He was old," said the taiyoukai, seeing the slump of her shoulders, despite her words.

"I know, but it doesn't mean that I miss him any less." She stood and took a deep breath. "He spoke me right before he died. He said he couldn't wait until he and Sango could meet me again in their next lives. I just wish I had his faith."

"A strange comment from a miko."

"I'm not your usual miko," she replied. "I'm not your usual human either. Should an immortal believe in reincarnation? Is it possible? What do youkai believe?"

Sesshoumaru frowned, for a youkai's beliefs were intensely personal. "Why should youkai believe anything different from humans?"

"You always work so hard to differentiate yourself from humans," Kagome said with a shrug.

"And you are assuming that humans came to their beliefs first," Sesshoumaru replied shortly.

She laughed. "I suppose I am," she said, glancing at him. "It's a shame you didn't know Miroku better. He would have liked you a lot. I think you would have liked him, as much as you do like humans."

He considered the way her hands gripped each other, and the liquid sadness of her eyes above her false smile. She had truly suffered, and she would continue to suffer for quite some time - he could see that, although he could not empathize with it. That was not something he could do, nor something he wished to do. But he had spent many years in the company of humans, and Rin had warned him what might be waiting for him when he returned to Edo this time. He gave as much as he was willing to give to his companion of three years. "Perhaps," he conceded.

"Thanks." Kagome pressed her lips against her fingers and touched each grave. "This was difficult," she said, as her fingers touched Miroku's name. "All of it, not just finding out Sango was dead and watching Miroku follow her. All of it was just so hard to deal with. It's not home anymore when it doesn't feel familiar and when you're so heartbroken all the time."

The miko looked up at him. "Will you promise me something? It's something I don't think you'll mind promising anyone."

"What is it?"

"Promise me that you won't die." She smirked. "It's not often someone can actually keep that promise."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "I am not a replacement for your human companions."

"No, you're not. And I know you don't understand what this is like for me, because you don't feel this way about anyone. Not about anyone that can die so quickly, anyway," she amended. "But as much as you don't understand, you still understand more than anyone else. And that's important to me."

The taiyoukai considered this for a moment. Rin had been right - Kagome knew more of his own thoughts than he had given her credit for. "I will not die, but not because of your request."

Kagome smiled and nodded. "Good enough for me."

* * *

A/N: Ah, that was a difficult chapter to write. It's been a tough few weeks for me and then there was the subject of the chapter itself... Anyway, there were issues that absolutely had to be dealt with, and this was the ending for some and the beginning of others. This isn't the darkest this story will get, but it might be the most depressing. For me, anyway. LoL.

History fact for this chapter - Buddhist temples were often built next to or within Shinto shrines in Japan. In the early 1900s, a lot of the temples were relocated because of the government's desire to separate the two religions. That proved almost impossible to do, of course, but there were quite a few architectural casualties.


	5. 1615: Surat

Beside You in Time  
1615: Surat, India

He spent the early morning hours on the veranda, leaning against the railing and watching his garden come to life. The flowers that Rin would have loved so much were opening, and he could smell the tamarind tree's fruit mixing with the scent of the mangoes the women were slicing in the kitchen and the scent from the bonfires of the night before. It promised to be a beautiful day - even for his usually detached sensibilities - but he wouldn't be able to enjoy it. As soon as he ate breakfast, he would retreat indoors and remain there, alone, until nighttime, just as he did every year on this day.

And so he was irritated to realize that Kagome's soft footfalls were coming down the hallway and that she was empty-handed. "Sesshoumaru?"

The taiyoukai turned to see that she was already leaving a trail of golden dust. He frowned and crossed his arms. "You were instructed to leave me be, unless it was to bring me my meals."

She gave him a bright smile. "Oh, lighten up! It's Holi!" she said. She twirled in the middle of the room, sending golden particles everywhere and letting her head scarf fall back from her black hair. Her face was half-covered in the metallic powder and the rest of her body, intricately wrapped in a cotton sari that was once red, was thoroughly doused. The wood and ceramic bangles that were usually so plain, shone as they moved along her arms. Even in the lush surroundings of Sesshoumaru's study - complete with silk sitting cushions and a low, mahogany desk - she was brilliant. He looked away. "I know you hide away every year," she said, "but it's supposed to be fun! It's a festival! Of course, that explains why you think it's so awful. You missed a wonderful bonfire in the city square last night, by the way."

"I fail to see how getting ambushed and covered in dye and dust constitutes a celebration," Sesshoumaru muttered. "And no fire will chase away demons."

Kagome laughed - for even Sesshoumaru had to admit that the one positive of Holi was that Kagome was never sour, regardless of what happened - and came closer. "Well, I think it's wonderful. You should see Nivritti! She's already covered from head to toe in yellow and magenta. Those boys from the market got her." She winked the eye that was dusted in gold. "I think she might marry one of them."

"And are you wedding the one that has covered you in gold?"

She blushed slightly and shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous." She watched as Sesshoumaru turned his head towards the hallway again. "Oh, by the way, he's here. Ekram let him in."

"Then I want Ekram fired."

"Absolutely not. Ekram is an excellent servant and one of the few that actually likes you," she said distractedly, as she pulled her head scarf back up over her hair. "Settle down. It's not like he's not going to cover _you _in dye."

Sesshoumaru wanted to argue, but there was nothing he could do about it now. The man in question was already sweeping around the corner. As his fine silk clothes proclaimed, Darshan Adani was one of the wealthiest farmers in the region and had no qualms in spending that money. It hadn't always been the case - Sesshoumaru had decided when he and Kagome had arrived eight years ago that the dirt-poor Adani was a promising talent who could coax a plant to grow in seawater and then sell it to an ascetic. Sesshoumaru had translated for him to the Englishmen that were just arriving in Surat, making Adani one of the first to profit off of the new trading route. In return, Adani had every farmer and merchant in the area using Sesshoumaru's gifts of language. They had made each other wealthy, and Kagome claimed that they were now friends - something that Sesshoumaru did not care for, but could not deny, in light of the circumstances.

So it was impossible to turn the mortal man away. "Shri Mazumdar! How well you look on this fine day!" he greeted in Hindi.

"Shri Adani," Sesshoumaru muttered. "Welcome."

Adani ignored Sesshoumaru's gesture towards one of the cushions in front of the low desk and approached Kagome instead. "My dear Mehtaji, you are a golden goddess this morning. Parvati herself would be jealous of your beauty," he said, taking her hand in his. "My messengers did well this year."

Kagome smiled and bowed her head. "What kind of man sends his servants to cover a woman in gold?" she teased. "You could have the courtesy to do so yourself, Adaniji."

"I suppose I could, but I am far too shy to declare my affection for you so openly, even on a day when the gods smile on us," the man replied, grinning.

"What are you doing here, Adaniji?" Sesshoumaru broke in before Kagome could reply.

"To business then," the farmer murmured to Kagome. "Here. This is something I have learned from the Englishmen." He bowed deeply and pressed a kiss to the back of Kagome's hand. "Good?" he asked, lifting his brown eyes to hers.

She giggled. "Very good, Adaniji."

"Adaniji," Sesshoumaru echoed, with far less amusement.

The man straightened. "Ah, my name never sounds as sweet coming from his mouth," he said, making Kagome color. He turned to Sesshoumaru. "Yes, yes. You are a difficult man, Mazumdarji, but also forgetful. We have an appointment with the Englishmen this morning. I came to collect you."

"Impossible. I would never schedule an appointment on Holi."

"And yet, you did. You said last time that you would meet them in precisely one week. Today." Adani smiled, showing off his white teeth. "I remember thinking it strange."

"You did not correct me," Sesshoumaru said with an arched brow.

"I never dare to correct you, Mazumdarji," replied Adani, with a wink towards Kagome. "Come. I have palanquins waiting. I do not want our golden goddess to be walking among the people, after all."

Kagome blinked. "I'm going too?"

Sesshoumaru shifted his weight and frowned. "The man that normally serves as secretary for our meetings has died of malaria - something only the English could accomplish in the dry season." Despite a hesitant camaraderie with Adani, the taiyoukai hadn't softened on his views of humanity and its weaknesses. "I offered to bring you as the scribe for our next meeting, as you know both languages."

"Better than he did, actually," Adani said.

"Oh. Well, I'll need to tell the other servants that I'll be gone for the morning," she said.

"Then go and meet us outside," Sesshoumaru replied. "If I have promised a meeting, then I will not be late. And you will wash your face."

"No, I won't," she replied, smiling at Adani. "If you're going to go out into the world today, you have to accept that Holi will not stop for you." She laughed and floated out of the room, still trailing golden dye.

The wealthy farmer watched as she left and sighed. "I think I love her," he said brightly. Looking back at Sesshoumaru, he grinned. "I may have to steal the fair Mehta away from you, Mazumdarji."

"She is not someone that can be stolen away," Sesshoumaru replied, as he knelt down and began gathering his papers from his desk.

"But she is a servant," Adani said, studying his companion's face. "Or are the rumors true?"

Sesshoumaru paused and looked up at the other man. "What rumors would those be?"

"That she is not your servant, but your mistress." He was no longer smiling, and his eyes flickered to the adjoining room, where a large bed was draped in mosquito netting.

The taiyoukai stood. "If that is true, why would you be so willing to marry her?" he asked. "Her reputation is ruined if that is what people truly believe about her."

Adani shrugged. "I am wealthy, but I am, essentially, a farmer. You, my friend, are not. I have never understood why you hide it, but you are not just a negotiator, trading words with the English. One needs only look at you to see that you are from the nobility and a warrior." He stopped for a moment and shrugged again. "Or, you were. I have never asked why you would purposefully act beneath your station, and I do not ask now. But you see, it's far different for a warrior to take a servant into bed than for a farmer to do so."

Sesshoumaru rolled up his parchment carefully. He could not say that Adani was right, but he would not deny that he was more than a translator to be hired at the will of farmers, merchants and sailors. "She is not my mistress," he said at last. "Are you asking to make her your wife?"

"I do not think the gods would be so kind," Adani said, with an easy smile on his lips once again.

The taiyoukai studied him for a moment. Humans and their romantic entanglements - and strangely, the lack thereof - were beyond him. He, personally, did not see what was so difficult about it. He doubted he would ever understand it, and he was perfectly comfortable with that. "We must go," he said, putting an end to it.

Sesshoumaru led his guest through the polished wood hallways where diamonds of light filtered through the latticed walls and out the front, where two palanquins waited at the door with two sets of servants to carry them into the city. Beyond them, across the lawn and the avenue, a temple stood on the banks of the glittering river. Kagome gave the taiyoukai and the farmer an appraising look from where she waited in the doorway. "There you are. We're going to be late after all, if we don't hurry."

"It is improper for our Parvati to be walking today," Adani said, gesturing to the first palanquin. "Will you join me, my goddess?"

"Parvati will grow angry with you, if you continue that," Kagome said with a smile. "And it is equally _improper_to suggest that I ride along with you, Adaniji." She wagged her finger at the man and then climbed into the second palanquin, where Sesshoumaru joined her.

They settled in for a long ride among the green and gold cushions - Sesshoumaru had built his home on the edge of the city, as far from the smells and sounds of Surat as possible. They heard Adani give his order and they were all lifted into the air and carried down the drive. Sesshoumaru watched as Kagome drew her dupatta closer to her face, as she always did on the rare occasions that she encountered the English - here, she was just as much of an oddity as she had been in London. Sesshoumaru didn't prefer the extra attention either, but today it was necessary - the lack of people speaking and writing both Hindi and English was the reason he had a job. "Do you believe that you will marry?" he asked in Japanese. "Adani or some other male?"

"That's the second time you've asked about my marriage plans this morning," she replied. "Is Adani planning something?"

The dog demon raised an eyebrow at her calm, serious tone. "I do not know." A thought struck him, and he frowned. "Have you had sex with him?"

Her eyes widened momentarily. "I don't know. Did you ever have sex with the countess?" she asked with an equally flat tone.

"The countess?" He frowned a moment, and then his face slid back into into its stoic mask. "That is none of your..."

"Precisely," she interrupted.

"That is different," he said.

Kagome leaned back against the cushions and crossed her arms. "Is it? How?"

"Many believe that you are my mistress."

"And so just because a bunch of old gossips think that I'm a ruined woman, you have the right to know if I actually am?" Kagome rolled her eyes. "Listen, Sesshoumaru, the only reason this whole arrangement has worked for the last twenty years is because we never got into each other's business. We know things about each other, sure, but there are things I don't know and don't want to know about you. I'm certain it's the same way for you. Can't we leave it at that?"

The taiyoukai frowned, annoyed that he had been painted as a busybody. He suddenly felt quite young in comparison to his companion, and he didn't appreciate it. "I only asked because he insinuated that you would be leaving. That is all the information I require."

Kagome relaxed slightly, her hands dropping into her lap. "No, I'm not leaving. Adani doesn't really want to marry me," she said. "He's just like Miroku, flirting with every girl he sees! He just happens to see me a lot more than most."

She was smiling again, just as Adani had done at the end of their conversation. Once again, Sesshoumaru decided to ignore the whole thing, with the added vow to never become involved in anyone's sex life but his own. Kagome was right about one matter - there were things he had no wish to know about her. He leaned back on his own side of the lush palanquin and decided to pretend he had never spoken about it. "I should remind you not to speak when we are with the Englishmen. It is strange enough that a woman is doing a man's work."

"You mean, being a secretary?" She was laughing again, and he didn't understand why. "Oh, I guess I'll try to restrain myself."

"Miko..."

"Yes, yes," she said, waving at him. "I know. I wouldn't dare to interfere in your talks."

"It is what keeps you clothed and fed," he said, gesturing at her sari. The flaky, golden dye was staining Adani's cushions, but he couldn't imagine that the farmer would mind.

Kagome nodded, but didn't say anything. Her place in his household had come to a silent impasse that neither of them really wanted to fight through. She didn't resent doing the work, but she felt she deserved more than just a place of honor among his staff. Sesshoumaru, however, had refused to elevate her status by giving her any semblence of respect. Her importance in his home - as Adani had just pointed out - was already a topic of intense speculation, just as it had been in London. Kagome's quiet rebellion against the agreement that had been in place for almost twenty years annoyed him, and he didn't see the need to change a thing. He wasn't sure what she wanted, anyway - she certainly couldn't articulate anything that would make her happier except the demand that he be kinder to her. He had no idea what that meant. He treated her as he treated everyone.

Someday though, he would have to deal with the miko's demands and the rumors that circulated around him because of her, but not on Holi as they approached the center of the city. People were parting to make way for the palanquins and leaning down to see the occupants. Several men called out in greeting to Darshan, using a variety of nicknames for the popular man. Kagome grinned as she heard him cry out as he was covered in dye. Clouds of green, yellow and red dissipated as Kagome and Sesshoumaru moved behind him.

The taiyoukai sat up to untie the curtains, so they would be shielded from the market. "No," Kagome murmured. "They won't bother you. Don't worry about it. I like to see everything."

He suspected she was stretching the truth of the relative safety of the palanquins, but reclined back again so that at least his face was hidden from view. Kagome, on the other hand, leaned forward, tipping precariously out of the litter. The market was filled with the overpowering scent of spice and bodies - they moved so slowly that Kagome was able to buy ginger root without getting out. The merchants and shoppers were in just as good of a mood as Kagome. Everyone, painted in a rainbow of colors, conversed freely and greeted them as they passed.

No one seemed willing to douse Kagome with any more dye - Adani was not the only one that called her Parvati and a golden goddess. Sesshoumaru had so rarely gone out with Kagome that it surprised him how many names she knew and how many of the people knew hers. Soon, the four men that carried the palanquin were covered in magenta and saffron in her honor, and Kagome laughed all the way through the market.

When they finally reached the port, Adani appeared at their side to help Kagome out of the palanquin. "You're soaked!" Kagome cried, avoiding his dyed hands with a smile. "You wear white on Holi on purpose!"

"What fun is it otherwise?" Adani replied. He turned towards Sesshoumaru, still wearing a pristine kurta. "You, my friend, need to get into the spirit of things!"

"Cover me in dye, and you will be a spirit soon enough, Adaniji," replied the taiyoukai.

"He's just jealous," the farmer said, grinning at Kagome, who nodded in return.

Any further teasing of the taiyoukai was cut short by the prompt arrival of Captain Barlow, who was wiping a hideous puce color from his face. It decorated the doublet and ruff that he wore that was still fashionable back in London, but which had him sweltering in Surat. Sesshoumaru mused that he didn't need to wipe the dye from his skin - it would melt off on its own soon enough. Kagome was taking a step back to protect her golden skin from his dripping forehead. "Damn natives," he was muttering. "Mazumdar, you don't seem like one of them. Can't you do something about this barbaric practice?"

Adani sniffed in annoyance - although Barlow had spoken in English, it was clear what was being said. The taiyoukai started to give him a warning, sidelong glance, but Kagome was already holding the farmer's wrist. He refocused his attention on the Englishman.

"It's an ancient holiday. I do not think a few words from me would help," Sesshoumaru replied.

Barlow frowned at him. "And how did you escape those lunatics?" he asked, clearly not listening.

"I have a reputation for disapproving of mess," the taiyoukai said. He gestured to his companions. "This is Mr. Adani. And Miss Mehta, the servant I mentioned last week. She will be taking our notes. In English, of course."

The naval officer glanced at them. "They're covered in that stuff."

"We could discuss matters on the veranda," suggested the taiyoukai smoothly.

The captain nodded. "Fine, as long as they don't have any of that filthy dye," he said, turning away. "This way."

"I think I already understand the color choice," Adani murmured as they followed, forcing Kagome to smother a laugh as Sesshoumaru glared. They successfully sobered themselves and followed the captain to the back of the salt-stained house. It sat on the banks of the Tapi River, but the breeze was from the ocean a dozen or so miles away. Three enormous English galleons sat in the water like large, predatory gulls, complete with cannons and armed guards patrolling the decks.

Sesshoumaru watched with a strategic eye, picking up immediately on the weaknesses in their security. He wouldn't say a word - his loyalty to England, if it had ever existed, ended when he had left London. He was rich because he knew what an Englishman would want and what a Indian would give. Any information on either side was to be kept to himself for future use.

But Kagome was looking carefully too, he noticed. She had sat down at the place given to her by the servants, but her eyes hadn't moved from the ships at the dock, and her fingers moved to smooth the parchment with shaky uncertainty.

"Miko," he murmured.

Her attention snapped to him. "Sorry. I'm ready," she murmured, opening the bottle of ink and dipping the quill. She looked up at him again. "It's just that..." She frowned and gestured towards the galleons.

Sesshoumaru nodded. "But we cannot interfere with your history," he said.

Kagome shook her head. "That's not what..."

"Mazumdar!" Barlow called from where he stood with Adani. "Get over here. What good is a translator that isn't there to hear us?"

* * *

It was many hours later, just as the sun was slipping beneath the horizon, that the palanquin was moving back up the hill towards Sesshoumaru's house. Adani had gone in a different direction, towards his own home, muttering about the incivility of the English. Kagome was resting on the other side, her knees pulled up to her chest and her eyes fluttering. Her hand, cramped from hours of writing, flexed beside her as the only sign that she wasn't quite asleep.

They watched as the palanquin slowly moved past the temple that sat close to their home. Worshippers flowed through the loose colonnade that wrapped around the front of the stone, bee-hived temple. It was one of the smaller temples - not the largest in Surat, certainly - but busy. The people were going to pay their respects to Parvati, the same goddess whose name Adani invoked to describe Kagome that morning. Sesshoumaru had never been inside during the eight years he'd been in Surat, but Kagome had visited often, particularly on festival days like Holi. Tonight, he knew, she would only visit her bed and pillow.

They turned down the path that led to his bungalow and the sounds of the temple celebrations faded. "Oh good, we're home," Kagome mumbled, as they came to a stop.

"Yes," he replied, swinging his legs out and straightening.

He never saw it coming. But the coolness of the magenta dye running down his face and his kurta was difficult to miss. He blinked and looked up to see a young woman, whose eyes were wide with her mouth hanging open, aghast at what she had just dared to do. Some distance away, a group of girls were huddled together and giggling. Every single one was drenched in color, making it impossible to distinguish one from the other in the fading light.

His hand curled into a fist, but Kagome was there, suddenly awake and bright-eyed, before he could even snarl. "Oh! Magenta! How lovely!" she said, placing herself firmly between him and the young woman, ignoring both of their shocked expressions. She was laughing.

The woman bowed to both, mumbled something unintelligible and ran, followed by her gaggle of girlfriends. Kagome turned, still smiling, to the taiyoukai. He was drenched in dye. "Well, that was a good run," she said, switching to Japanese. "You might be able to go another five years without getting hit."

"She disobeyed my express orders," he murmured, wiping his eye with the back of his hand until he realized his hand was covered in dye as well. He growled deeply in his throat.

"Oh, don't be a grump. I don't think that was one of the servants anyway."

He frowned, trying to recall any of the faces. "Who was it?"

"I'm not sure," Kagome said, grinning. "That's the point!" She pressed a finger against his shoulder and rubbed the magenta dye between her fingers. "I think you have an admirer though. Nicely done stuff. She really got you good too."

"It is not appreciated," he muttered, pulling his thick mane forward and frowning as the dye seeped into the strands.

"You need to loosen up," Kagome replied. Her eyes shifted away from him to some point over his shoulder. "I know that you like India, so you can't just stay here and not... I mean, you need to immerse yourself in..."

She gave up, and her smile slid away. The hairs on the back of Sesshoumaru's neck prickled and stood on end. He turned his head. "I feel it as well."

"Second time today," she murmured, moving around him. The palanquin was gone - the servants could move far faster without passengers - and her view to the temple that sat on the river's edge was clear. She tilted her head and scrutinized the small figures that stood at its entrance.

"You felt this before?"

The corners of her mouth turned down slightly. "When we were with that Barlow guy. It faded quickly, but I felt it coming from the ships," she replied, looking at him again. "Didn't you?"

"No. I believed that you were considering giving warnings about becoming involved with the British."

"I try not to think about that," Kagome murmured. "No, this is definitely not just me worrying about Surat."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "Then we will go and see what it is."

"It's a _temple_, Sesshoumaru," she said. Her voice lowered. "And I think we know what it is. On Holi too!"

"All the more reason to make certain it is not what we think it is," he replied. He arched an eyebrow and glanced at her. "Is that not the purpose of Holi? To cleanse the world of demons?"

She gave him a look of surprise. "Maybe you haven't been ignoring everything," she said. She rubbed at the bridge of her nose for a moment and then gave a slight nod. "Alright then, let's go. Shouldn't we have weapons or something?"

"It is a _temple_," he echoed back to her.

"Right. Bad idea. Let's just _look_then, okay?"

They made their way into the crowd that was largely spilling out of the temple, removed their shoes at the base of the stairs and then pressed against the tide. A Brahmin stood at the entrance, his brow creasing when he spotted the two of them mounting the steps. Kagome bowed to the holy man, but pushed on, leading Sesshoumaru inside. "I've told him that you would probably never come here," she whispered as they entered a hall. From above their heads, the chiseled faces of gods looked down on them as they danced on the walls around their own miniature temples carved into the stone.

The room was emptying quickly, although oil lamps lit up the crevices that held the most important gods and goddesses. Kagome saw Ganesha and Shiva on the north wall - Parvati's son and her husband, respectively. Ganesha's elephant head seemed to wag at them as they passed on, weaving through the columns to the other, darker end of the hall. Kagome walked close to the taiyoukai, her arm brushing his every once in awhile. Despite the heat, she was shaking.

"It might be nothing," she murmured, her voice high.

"It might be everything," he replied. "The feeling has not faded from my senses."

She didn't say anything for a moment. "No. Not from mine either." They paused at the end of the hall and looked out into another pavilion with several columned pathways shooting away, creating a labyrinthine courtyard. Although the door was open, it was clear that they were not supposed to be here without an invitation. "Maybe we should..."

"We will search in different directions and meet at the inner sanctum," he said, gesturing to the dark door on the other end of the corridor.

"We're _definitely_not allowed in there," she whispered, but Sesshoumaru was already turning the left and disappearing into the shadows. Kagome let out a soft sigh and, checking to make sure no one was paying attention, moved to the right.

There were no lamps lit in here - windows stood yards apart, but dusk was upon them and the remaining light retreated from the temple. The faces of deities and demons once again watched her as she walked on the stone. Her feet were bare and silent, and she moved with measured paces. She tried to keep her hand on the wall, to avoid taking a wrong turn and getting lost. For the first time in many years, she thought longingly of modern conveniences - a flashlight would give her the security to settle her jumping stomach. A stun-gun would work too.

The stone beneath her fingers dipped away, and she stood in the window, letting her eyes adjust for a moment. Just as she realized that she was framed in light - advertising her exact location - she heard a soft, feminine breath.

Her heartbeat skittered unevenly as she retreated to the shadow, feeling for the wall behind her. A soft cry answered her rapid movement, and Kagome pressed herself back against the rock, searching the corridor for movement. The light from the window, which had been so unhelpfully dark to her unadjusted eyes a minute ago, now spilled into everything, obscuring her vision. She moved to the side, sliding along the wall, to get away from it.

There. She froze opposite of a niche in the wall holding another statue of Ganesha. The elephant-headed god was not alone - at his feet, two figures were intertwined and moving. She had been so close to them a few moments ago. They had to know that she was here. What was going on?

Kagome sucked in a sharp breath upon her realization, and blood flowed to her cheeks. Catching a couple in the middle of their tryst was not exactly what she expected to find - especially not in a temple. How humiliating for all of them. She wanted to say that she wouldn't tell the priests, or at least that she was sorry for nearly stumbling into them. They must have thought they were safe here, of all places. Perhaps, she decided, she wouldn't say anything at all. It was awkward enough being here for so many stunned seconds.

Just as she was about to turn, a hand stretched out over her partner's shoulder and grasped at the air. Kagome would have thought little of it amid the embarrassing circumstances, but then there came another cry. It sent a shiver of fear down her spine, and the miko almost fainted from the speed at which the blood drained from her face.

She was eighty-four years old. This was far too familiar at this point in her life.

She spun on the ball of her foot. "Hey!" she cried, digging her nails into the man's shoulder and pulling. He fell back with relative ease, letting a girl of about sixteen collapse onto the ground. "What do you think you're doing?"

Her eyes swept over his imperious expression - the firm set of his mouth in the midst of a blond beard and the icy blue eyes that glared down at her. English. She switched languages easily, shoving him away from the girl, who was now sobbing into her loosened sari. "What do you think you're doing?" she repeated in the clipped London accent she had thought she had lost.

He was finally pushing back - not with his hands, but the shoulder she had pressed her hand against so firmly. Kagome felt his surprising strength. "You can be next then," he murmured in a slow, thick voice.

"Pig!" The slap she gave him rang through the columns. He barely flinched, but pulled away swiftly, melting into the shadows before Kagome could blink. She recoiled and fell to the floor beside the girl before doing what she knew she should have done immediately. "Sesshoumaru!"

The taiyoukai appeared after a few moments that stretched like eons. "What happened?"

Kagome got to her feet and coaxed the girl to do the same, keeping her attention on the scared creature at her side. The teenager was disheveled, bruised and in desperate need of rest. She was desperately trying to wrap her sari back around her body, but her shaking hands kept dropping the heavy cloth. "She was attacked by one of the English sailors. He's somewhere around here," she replied, her voice wavering, although it was unclear if it was anger or fear.

Sesshoumaru paused and glanced around the dark corridor. "He is gone."

"We should get her home. Let's forget about this. We can come back later." She looked up at his figure in the dark - the white kurta seemed to glow, even with so little light.

He moved closer so that she could see him more clearly. "Alright."

There was a slight pause, and then Kagome straightened and took a deep breath. "Please run," she whispered in Hindi to the girl. She stared back. "I'm sorry, but run. Find the priests and tell them to get everyone out. Please!"

The girl stumbled out, nearly tripping over the end of her sari. Sesshoumaru frowned but didn't move. "Kagome, what are you doing?"

Her eyes were fixed on the taiyoukai's face. "Where is Sesshoumaru?" she asked, her voice tremulous.

"I am Sesshoumaru," he replied as his brow creased.

"No. No, you aren't," Kagome said. "Sesshoumaru would have come the second he heard me in trouble."

"I did not hear you until you called for me."

She shook her head. "I could probably count on one hand the number of times in the last twenty years that Sesshoumaru has called me by name." Her hands curled into fists. "And he would have called me a 'foolish girl' or something like that as soon as I questioned his identity. You're not him."

"You _are_being foolish now," he said. "A scared, foolish girl."

"Sesshoumaru would never abandon his hunt for those thieves, even if a girl was hurt or scared."

"Compassion is not acceptable?"

"Not from him," Kagome affirmed, backing up. He followed, step for step. "But most importantly..."

An eyebrow arched. "Yes?"

"You're clean. You don't have any Holi dye on you."

He stilled as his eyes drifted down to his white kurta, untouched by the magenta dye that had been tossed all over the real Sesshoumaru. When he looked at her again, a sloppy grin spread across his lips that was so foreign on the familiar face that she almost forgot to breathe. He opened his mouth and an alien voice came from the taiyoukai's throat - slow and thick, like the Englishman's. "You're a clever one." He took one step towards her. "And pretty."

"Sesshoumaru!" she yelled, letting the stone corridors ring with her voice.

The imposter lunged, but a figure - dressed in white and drenched in magenta - intercepted him, slamming him into the wall opposite. "There are two of them!" the taiyoukai growled. "They are shape-shifters!"

"I think I got that part down!" she yelled, backing up. "Where's the other one?"

"It fled when you called for me again. It has _not_left," he answered, his voice straining as he continued to press the shape-shifter into the wall. His claws were closing around its throat.

The beast in Sesshoumaru's grasp struggled for only a moment before it showed them exactly how dangerous it was. The features of the taiyoukai slid and reformed in an instant, shifting back to the figure of the blond Englishman. Shorter and stockier in the blink of an eye, the shape-shifter threw Sesshoumaru off balance as he was shouldered in the chest.

Kagome cried out as the taiyoukai fell backwards. "What do you want me to do?"

"Stay out of the way, miko," Sesshoumaru snarled, getting to his feet again.

The words were barely out of his mouth before the two went at one another, grappling for a hold in the middle of the corridor. Kagome turned around, searching with her eyes and hands for something - anything - that could be used as a weapon. Never mind that she hadn't brought one. She hadn't prepared at all for this, she realized as she felt around the dark corner. She didn't have any kind of weapon, nor had she practiced with one in years. Her bow string at home was brittle and would have broken, even if she had had the presence of mind to bring it. She didn't know how to use a knife, or a sword - all of which she lacked. The struggle behind her was frenetic - she wouldn't dare reaching out with a purifying touch, for fear of harming Sesshoumaru instead.

A loud cry ripped through the air, and she turned to see the Englishman holding his arm. Blood dripped down from between his fingers and splattered on the floor. Sesshoumaru was tensed, his bloody claws flexing in preparation. Kagome was about to congratulate him when another, slimmer figure appeared in the window. "Behind you!" she cried.

Sesshoumaru half-turned, and the Englishman crashed into him, sending both tumbling through the window and down to the ground outside. The second figure, having neatly side-stepped the two males, stepped off the ledge. "Well, while my dear brother takes care of your taiyoukai, we girls can have a little chat." Her fingers were moving with nervous speed at her sides, catching the soft light on her long, pale fingers. She was wrapped in a cotton sari that was decorated with Holi dye too - Kagome knew that she could have been any one of the women she had passed, even talked to, on the street that morning.

Kagome had learned a long time ago what to do when faced with an intelligent predator - she immediately pivoted and started running towards the doorway. In a moment, she felt claws scratching her scalp, and she twisted. Her dupatta tightened around her neck, and Kagome choked, her hands flying up to free herself. The cotton slid away and she continued to flee, bare-headed and bleeding from where the demoness's claws had touched her. She heard no footsteps but her own, but she could feel the youkai trailing behind her.

Just as she reached the doorway to the front entrance, she felt something hit her between the shoulder blades. She flew forward, landing face-down on the stone floor. Her mouth flooded with blood as she bit down on the inside of her cheek. "Why run?" asked the demoness from behind her. Her sleek voice was playful. "You will answer my questions before I kill you."

Kagome dragged herself to her feet, clutching with one hand at her jaw - blood flowed over her lip and down her chin. "I don't know anything," she mumbled around her swelling lip. She stumbled towards the entrance, not looking at the shape-shifter behind her.

"You'll remember. There must all kinds of interesting information in that pretty little head of yours."

The miko felt, rather than heard, the demoness coming. She sprang forward and grabbed the lit oil lamp on the ledge in front of her, swinging around as the shape-shifter loomed. The hot oil hissed as it hit her skin, and the demoness screamed.

Kagome let the clay lamp shatter on the floor and ran again, rushing past the few shocked worshippers hovering at the top of the steps. Careening down the stairs, she rounded the corner and tried to control her breathing. It had been a long time since she had been in so much pain and so winded, but she had to reach Sesshoumaru.

People were everywhere - drawn by the noise, no doubt. She wove through them, pushing off any attempt to stop or help her. The sounds of tumbling rock and the cries of pained demons rang through the warm air. "Sesshoumaru!" she yelled, breaking through the ring of spectators.

The taiyoukai and shape-shifter were circling one another next to the crumbling foundation of the temple, where both of them had clearly been subject of a vicious beating. Both of them were bruised and bleeding now - Kagome couldn't tell the difference between the magenta dye and Sesshoumaru's blood anymore. The torches and lamps carried by the Holi celebrants made them visible, but she couldn't see the extent of the damage to either one.

She grabbed a torch from the nearest man, who relinquished it easily in surprise. The demoness could be anywhere, she knew - any one of these people. But at the moment, she could only worry about Sesshoumaru. Kagome approached the pair and drew all attention, including that of the blond demon.

The entire crowd drew in a deep breath as the shape-shifter immediately mimicked the taiyoukai - down to every drop of dye that was on his kurta - and threw his body against Sesshoumaru's. They tumbled onto the grass and rolled, both digging at the other with their claws. When they separated again, it was impossible to tell which one was the friend and which was the foe.

"Watch yourself, miko!" the one on the left growled.

Kagome swung around to find the demoness, still dripping with hot oil, stalking towards her. Kagome waved the torch. "Don't come close or I'll burn you again." She lifted her free hand and the tips of her fingers began to glow. "One way or the other."

The shape-shifter bared her pointed teeth - her thin face and small lips could barely hold them all. "You will not live past this night, little priestess."

"You'd be surprised at how often I hear that," she said, trying to ignore the crunch of body against stone that she could hear behind her.

"At least you'll be without the taiyoukai's protection soon enough," the demoness said, her lip quirking.

Kagome turned at that, without a thought. Sesshoumaru held the blond Englishman once again against the stone. "Miko!" he snarled, admonishing her for her gullibility with just one word.

The knife was at her throat before she could even flinch. "Drop the torch. And if you try to purify me, I will cut your throat before joining my brother to slaughter your taiyoukai," she murmured. "I'll do that anyway, of course. But at least you can put it off for a few minutes. Now, you will answer my questions."

Before Kagome could hear the question though, something small flew through the air and hit the demoness square on the forehead, above her eye. "You will leave, demon!" yelled an man clothed in white at the center of the gathered crowd. It was a Brahmin - the oldest priest of the temple. Kagome had only seen him once before tonight - he was old, sick and revered beyond almost any other man in Surat. The priests must have taken the assaulted girl at her word and brought out _everyone_. He wasn't looking particularly old or sick now, however - he was already rolling another, larger stone between his fingers.

The crowd, silent and still until now, roared to life - torches waved, stones thrown and threats came from every direction. A Hindu's non-violence did not extend to demons that had escaped the exorcising Holi bonfire. They pressed in closer, tightening the perimeter and sealing the gaps between them.

The shape-shifter loosened her hold for a moment - just the briefest of seconds - but Kagome knew it was her chance. She grabbed the arm holding the knife and twisted it away, elbowing the demoness at the base of her breastbone for good measure. The knife flew out of her hand and was nabbed by an onlooker, who stabbed at the air to punctuate his curses.

"Sister!"

Sesshoumaru pushed the brother into the wall once more and came to Kagome's side, pulling her away before the demoness could recover. Picking up the torch, still smouldering on the grass, the taiyoukai swung it upwards, catching the shape-shifter's chin and sending her flying backwards with a sickening crack of her jaw and a shower of embers.

"Sister!" the blond demon cried again. He stumbled over to her and gathered her into his arms before leaping twenty feet straight up, back through the window of the temple and disappearing into its blackness.

Kagome looked up at the taiyoukai, who still held her by the arm. His blood was dripping down his face from what looked to be a broken nose. She could still taste the coppery liquid in her own mouth. "Do you want to go after them?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head. "No. I..." He paused, and his jaw tightened for a moment. "I believe we can leave them for now. They are too injured to return."

Noticing the tilt to his stance, she pressed her free hand against his side and was rewarded with a pained hiss through his teeth. "Who cares about them? You're too injured as well," she said. "I think your ribs are broken. Come on, you need to lie down." She tried to put her arm around his waist for support, but was immediately rebuffed. "You need help."

"I do not need anything," he said as he slowly lifted his hand from her arm. His breath shook as he moved across the clearing and towards the crowds.

The mass of people, abuzz with gossip and conjecture, parted in front of them. Sesshoumaru ignored them all, batting away those that tried to reach out to him. Kagome bowed to the Brahmin, murmuring a thanks and a promise to repay him for the damage to the temple, before hurrying after the taiyoukai.

* * *

When he finally got inside, he found a few of the older servants waiting. The rest were outside with the crowd, giving people water and making sure no strangers got indoors. They were being ruthless in their refusals to all walks of life - even he had had a difficult time getting past them, after the eight years he had been coming regularly to the house. "They're here, I assume?" he asked.

One of the women nodded. "Yes, Shri Adani. But they won't allow anyone in to see them."

He flashed his customary grin and held up the package that he had so recently acquired himself. "Mehtaji will want to see me. Promise," he said as he walked past them and deeper into the bungalow, ignoring their frowns.

Adani soon could hear the strange language that his friends sometimes spoke rising and falling from the room at the end of the hall, and then Kagome appeared in the doorway to Sesshoumaru's study with her dupatta drawn across her face. Her eyes - the only visible part of her face - were shadowed and tired. "Adaniji, you shouldn't be here," she murmured.

"So I've been told," he replied, gesturing over his shoulder. "But I couldn't avoid seeing my good friends who have, apparently, become gods."

She sagged against the door frame. "Are they still out there?"

"More of them, I believe." He came towards her and motioned towards her makeshift veil. "They want to worship at your doorstep, but they are respecting the privacy of the golden Parvati and her champion. You don't have to hide your face, Mehtaji."

"Oh, this isn't for them," she said. "I just didn't want to see my own reflection." She lifted her hand and untied the dupatta, exposing a savage bruise of red and purple that spanned from her cheekbone to chin.

"Mehtaji," Adani cried. He moved as if to touch her and then thought better of it, taking two steps back. "I was told that only Mazumdar was injured."

"I fell inside the temple," Kagome said, turning her face away and pinning the dupatta back across her face. "It looks worse than it is."

"And what about him? May I see him?"

She let out a soft laugh. "Well, I don't suppose I could dissuade you after you got this far."

She turned and led him through the study and into the dark room that served as Sesshoumaru's bedroom. Bandages, both clean and bloodied, were piled around the bed, and the air was full of the strong scent of medicinal herbs that Kagome had been mixing herself. She went back to her mortar and pestle as soon as she entered, grinding it with a practiced hand. Adani stood at the foot of the bed and looked at the patient.

Sesshoumaru glared back. His body was a patchwork of bruises - some so bad that they had split the skin. Adani knew that he could only see the least of it - far more of his body was covered in the bandages, and the linens were pulled up to his waist. Kagome pushed aside the mosquito netting and applied a thin layer of clear gel as Sesshoumaru spoke. "What are you doing here, Adaniji? I hope you are not like one of the idiots that has spent the night on my front steps."

"I have known you too long to believe that you are a god, Mazumdarji," the farmer said with a small smile. "Mehtaji, on the other hand..."

"Enough. State your purpose," Sesshoumaru said.

"To see if my friends were alive. You took on two demons last night, and they say you left bleeding. Which, I can see, was true."

Kagome stood and dipped a cloth into some warm water. "We're fine, Adaniji. We were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and were lucky to escape with our lives. It's that simple."

"You _glowed_, Mehtaji."

She paused in her movements for just a moment before wringing out the cloth. "You know I'm not actually Parvati, Adaniji," she murmured, leaning over and sponging away the dried blood on Sesshoumaru's knuckles, all of which were torn open.

"Of course," admitted the farmer.

"And you know that we're not from here," Kagome continued. "What they saw last night... it's part of our world."

"Young women from your land often glow?" Adani asked, his eyebrow disappearing under his hair.

"Some," Sesshoumaru replied, before Kagome could say another word. "But these people will know nothing of that. We will attribute last night to Parvati alone - the Parvati that sits in the temple across the street from this house. There is no Parvati here. You will tell them. We are in no condition to do so."

"I am not certain they will believe it."

"You can sell anything, Adaniji," Kagome said.

They were both looking at him with a quiet determination that told the farmer that they had spoken about this at length before he arrived. He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Mehtaji, it may be normal where you are from, but no one glows in Surat. Look at how they worship you." He bent down and untied the package he had been carrying. Indigo silk spilled across the foot of the bed.

Kagome stood straight. "That's the finest sari I've ever seen," she murmured, her eyes opening wide with interest. She quickly dried her hands and reached out for the silk. Her fingers traced the golden embroidery with care. "It must have been _incredibly_expensive. Adaniji, did you...?"

"No, although if I had known the love you obviously held for such things, I would have happily provided you with one," the farmer said. "But no, it was not me. It was Desai."

"Desai?" Sesshoumaru sat up, closing his eyes briefly because of the pain. "The rich pig who is infamous for refusing to give an ascetic a crust of bread?"

"He's outside now, praying on your steps."

Kagome sighed. "Maybe he's right," she murmured. Her eyes were still on the sari. "We may need to leave."

"Leave?" Adani frowned and moved to her side, taking her hand in his. "Mehtaji, you can't leave."

She smiled up at him. "You're learning more English than you let on. You'll be fine."

"I wasn't talking about that..."

"We are not leaving," Sesshoumaru broke in. He focused on the blushing girl, who was slowly extricating herself from Adani's grasp, and switched to Japanese. "I will not heal for some time, and we do not know if the shape-shifters have left Surat. We cannot leave until we know that they have done so."

"Are you so worried for Surat?" she answered in kind.

"No," he replied with a frown, "but those demons are more powerful than I originally surmised. We must act with more vigilance than we have in the past."

Kagome nodded and switched back to Hindi. "Then we won't leave," she said, looking towards a relieved farmer. "But, Adaniji, you must tell those people that I am not Parvati. Mazumdarji is not Shivaji."

"I suddenly have renewed faith in my abilities to convince them," Adani replied with a smile. He looked towards the sari that still rested at the foot of the bed. "And the gifts?"

"Return them all," Sesshoumaru said.

Kagome's face fell. "Oh." She leaned forward and gathered the expensive silk, folding it over her arm with reverence. "Of course. We can't keep it. Any of it, I mean. I'll wrap it up again."

As she moved to the other room, Adani frowned at Sesshoumaru, who glared in return. "You know, I heard what she did," the farmer whispered, his tone fierce and challenging. "You could give more credit to her for trying to fight those demons. A token of gratitude, perhaps?"

"She was a fool for trying to fight," the taiyoukai replied. "She has no training."

"And yet, you won. Was it entirely because of you, Mazumdarji?"

Sesshoumaru scowled. "You have already said that the gossips believe she is my mistress. Dressing her in such silk would only confirm that."

"I don't think the old women's tongues could wag any more than they already are," Adani replied.

The dog demon looked into his study where Kagome stood over the fine sari, wrapping it with painstaking love. He _did_need to address Kagome's feelings of inferiority in the household, he remembered with chagrin. This might solve her dour attitude about her place in his house, and Adani would never give him rest about it if he didn't agree. With an inward sigh, he pushed aside the sheets and stood up, grimacing as his wounds stretched underneath his bandages.

Kagome's head snapped up at the movement. "You shouldn't be up," she scolded, leaving the sari on his desk and coming forward to push him back into bed. "You need to rest."

"I am only retrieving one thing," he muttered, brushing her aside. He went to his desk and opened the small chest that sat on top of it, pulling out a bag of golden coins. He tossed it to Adani. "I expect that is more than enough."

"Barely, actually," Adani replied, weighing the bag in his hand. He shrugged at Sesshoumaru's frown. "Mehtaji wasn't lying when she said they were expensive."

The miko looked between the two men. "What... Are you buying the sari?" she asked, her voice laced with both shock and suspicion.

"Mazumdarji's idea," Adani said with a small smile.

Kagome turned to the taiyoukai. "Sesshoumaru," she breathed, using his first name in a rush of warmth. "You don't have to. It's too expensive."

He scowled over her head at the farmer, who was grinning madly. "My secretary can spend her salary however she wishes."

"Your what?"

The dog demon had the sudden urge to use his injuries to get back to bed and ignore the gleeful farmer and the dewy-eyed miko. Teasing from Adani and tears from Kagome - that was exactly why he didn't want to do this, he recalled. "It doesn't change a thing," he said aloud. "You will still attend to your tasks. Perhaps giving you an educated place in my household will end the ceaseless chatter that you are my mistress. If they must draw incorrect conclusions about our relationship, I would prefer that it didn't involve sharing a bed with you."

She smiled. "That's sweet," she said. "Except for the part where you insulted me. But still, thank you."

It was confirmation that he was ill that she was able to get close to him so fast, because he found himself the subject of a chaste kiss on his jawline through the cloth of her dupatta. He frowned down at her. "It does not change anything," he reiterated.

"I know. Just showing my gratitude," Kagome said, beaming. She stepped back again and waved him back towards the bedroom. "Go on. You're sick. Get back in bed and rest."

"This is your task now," Sesshoumaru muttered, passing by Adani.

"One I take with joy, Mazumdarji." He grinned at Kagome and offered her his hand. "Would you like to listen to my brilliant speech from inside the doorway? No one will know the gifted secretary of Mazumdar is there."

Kagome slid her fingers over his palm. "I would like that," she replied. She looked back at the taiyoukai as Adani took her away. "I'll be back to take care of you in a few minutes."

Sesshoumaru watched them leave and leaned back against the pillows, wondering what a moment of weakness may have started.

* * *

A/N: My sources (i.e. Ijin) tell me that Shri/Shrimata are Indian titles for Mr./Mrs. Kumari is Miss. The suffix of -ji is like the Japanese -san. Just in case you wondered! :)

Holi is a holiday in India where everyone gets to throw colored dye at each other. Everyone acts pretty outrageously, and the saying is, "Don't be offended - it's Holi!" I've always loved the idea of a day where you can cover people in paint with no consequences. Of course, the people that you like get pretty colors like yellow, magenta and red. People that you don't like get brown and other drab colors. Gold and silver are reserved for those that you really like, but because it's expensive, only rich people get to express that much affection. Hence, Kagome is covered in gold by the flirt, Darshan Adani. Kagome was giving him a hard time, saying that Adani would not cover Sesshoumaru in dye, as it's done between male friends too. Mean little minx. LoL.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers. Tuck in to a pumpkin pie and have a fabulous long weekend. :)


	6. 1633: Rome

Beside You in Time  
1633: Rome, Italy

She pulled a scarf over her hair, despite the heat of the morning, and tied it at the nape of her neck. Her list was written in Japanese - a habit she had never broken since she was back in her time. It was likely the market wouldn't have most of these items. Even so, she tucked the list into the bottom of her basket and turned to her only companion. "I'll need some money." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Where are you going?"

He lifted his chin and finished doing up his doublet at his throat. "I have a business meeting."

"Really?"

"I don't understand why that should surprise you. I am supposed to be a merchant in this city."

She smiled. "No, I'm glad. I just thought that since you made some money in India that you weren't going to do anything for awhile. I would understand that, since I know you don't like dealing with humans."

"As much as I detest your kind, I find sloth even less agreeable," Sesshoumaru replied.

"Well, as long as you're certain." She opened the door and sighed as a wave of heat swept inside. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to hire a servant?"

The taiyoukai frowned. "No. We will not be in Rome for long."

"You said the same thing about India, and we were there for decades. Plural," she said. "Anyway, are you coming?"

He joined her, and they hovered in the doorway for a moment as he handed over a few florin. Kagome quickly put them into her sleeve and nodded. "Alright. I'll be back in about an hour or so. It depends how long it takes for me and the merchants to understand each other. Any special requests?"

"No."

"Oh, good. It's so much easier that way." She glanced down the narrow street. "I wish we lived closer to the market though. Any meat I get could spoil in this heat just on the walk home. What time will you be back?"

"In time for dinner. Prepare something suitable for our guest." He moved to walk away.

"Whoa! This guy is coming back with you?" Kagome frowned at the taiyoukai's blank expression. "I need more warning than this in the future, Sesshoumaru. You just told me that we weren't going to hire anyone. Without a staff, I can't do as much as I'd like. I'll make something in time, but it's not going to be fancy."

He shrugged. "Very well," he replied.

"I just don't like visitors sneaking up on me." She held back another sigh at his lack of response. "Okay, I'm going to hope that you get what I'm talking about. I have to go. Linger as much as you want, because I need to clean up the place a bit too. Good luck."

Sesshoumaru nodded, and they parted. Her quick steps soon faded behind him.

The piazza twenty minutes away was overflowing with residents, pilgrims and pickpockets. The sun bleached the color from the buildings, and the ground glowed with the dust kicked up by the pedestrians. A few merchants called out to potential buyers from each corner of the piazza, from little pockets of shadows, where their produce wouldn't wilt. Pigeons fluttered around everyone's ankles, cooing and pecking at the earth.

He pushed his way clear to the fountain in the center, topped by a merman with fins for ears and a conch shell that spilled over with water. The only other demon in the square waited at its base with his back turned to the taiyoukai, although he had surely sensed Sesshoumaru's arrival. "Santini?" the demon said as he approached. With blue eyes and brown hair, he was either remarkably plain or had a fantastic concealment spell. To anyone else in the piazza, he was just another human. Still, there was no mistaking the predatory way he moved and the scent of youkai.

"For now, that is my name," Sesshoumaru replied. They grasped each other's forearms. "Fidelity to the alliance."

"And remembrance to our fallen brothers," the other male said dutifully, dropping his hand. He broke out into a smile, showing off his even, blunt teeth. "I don't see what formalities can do for you. I doubt that I could ever assuage your fears that I am who I say that I am, considering that other little problem that you have."

"Hm. If you are not who you say you are, you have picked a poor disguise. I have never seen you before. I will distrust you regardless."

He nodded. "And you should know that you may never see me again. I'm only the replacement. The one that was supposed to come here today was terminated a little more than a week ago."

Sesshoumaru drew in a long breath. "How many is that?"

"This year so far? Eleven, that we know of. Since the beginning? Well, that's anyone's guess." He drew a slip of paper from his sleeve. "The Countess von Triberg-Todtnau is somewhat concerned with your... well, _lack_ of concern."

"You may tell her that I am very much invested in this matter," the dog demon replied, putting the paper into his own pocket without reading it. "Unfortunately, as you have pointed out, I do have another problem. One that the countess does not have."

"She was not so pleased when she discovered it on her own. She wished you would have told her about your odd predicament yourself."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "I am under no obligation to tell the countess anything. I am here as a courtesy only." His eyes, once again colored gray by a concealment spell, swept over the other demon. "You are not only a replacement."

"I am the countess's top advisor. And her cousin, actually. You may call me Brandt." He gestured to the teeming crowds surrounding them. "You are not the only one with additional problems, Santini. The war in the north rages, and although we keep out of such matters, it is sometimes difficult not to rip the throats out of these Catholic dogs that destroy my cousin's lands."

"If you have no involvement, then you would say the same of the Protestants. Or do they avoid the countess's lands as they march and do battle?"

Brandt smiled again. "The countess said you were married to logic."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. "Indeed. If you are truly removed from human affairs, you will view all of them with the same level of contempt, regardless of religious affiliation."

"I will keep that in mind," Brandt replied, clearly not heeding the advice. "Have you encountered the shape-shifters again? The countess understands that you move when you sense their presence. I'm assuming that is why you are in Rome?"

The dog demon shook his head. "We left India because we had been there for more than two decades. We do not know if they are in Rome or in Italy, but we were drawn back to Europe. If it were so simple as you suppose, then this problem would not be such a problem."

"Do you anticipate these immortals becoming a problem for us?"

"No. They are powerful and reckless, and for that alone, I cannot abide them. They even may be willing to join our cause, but I would advise against it. As thieves and shape-shifters, they cannot be trusted."

Brandt nodded. "Something to remember, of course."

Sesshoumaru gave him a sharp look. "Have you already approached them for assistance?"

"If you cannot find them, how could we?" asked the other demon. "You must admit though, that they would be wonderful assets for our purpose. Just as you are, my lord. After all, it is difficult to defeat an enemy that cannot die."

"Although I am immortal, that does not mean I am invincible. It seems that these humans are creating ever more inventive ways of killing one another. Their imagination knows no bounds when it comes to attaining victory." He paused and frowned. "It may be the only thing I respect in their inferior race."

"Then you must understand why we wish to find these shape-shifters."

The dog demon crossed his arms. "It would be wise not to alert me if you do. I will kill them when I see them again, regardless of your need for them."

Brandt gave him a half-smile and a nod. "Of course. Speaking of undesirable companions, how is your pet?"

"I have no pet," Sesshoumaru replied with a crease in his brow.

"Oh, then she is your equal? That human girl, who is not so human anymore?" His amusement faded. "The countess was not happy to hear about that either. It is one thing to have humans everywhere, but an immortal human? You should have told her. It could jeopardize everything."

"The only way it could threaten our common goals would be if the miko knew anything about those goals. She is unaware. She believes that she attends every meeting I have with other youkai, and although aspects of our departure from England raised a few questions, I expect that she has forgotten about it. At least, she has not brought up the subject again."

Brandt gave Sesshoumaru a sidelong glance. "I would expect that it's difficult to explain the presence of a young woman alone with you in your home," he said. "This is a Catholic country, after all."

"Yes, a place where Popes have children in shadows and armies killing under the Vatican's orders."

"Barberini has no illegitimate children," Brandt pointed out. "You too have been affected by the politics of the humans."

"And you call him by his family name and not his title," countered Sesshoumaru. He paused and let out a quiet sigh. "Perhaps we have both spent too much time with the Protestants. Their prejudices should not concern us. We are above such petty matters and should only concern ourselves with humans when they concern themselves with us."

The other demon nodded. "We have been wasting time. I must leave by nightfall."

"Then tell me what has happened. Eleven dead in just a few short months is higher than it has ever been. Who were they, other than my contact?"

"Mostly low level demons that refused to listen to our warnings. Two of them, however, were mates here in Rome. They didn't heed us either, but we let them alone. They were powerful enough to defeat anyone that threatened them. A short time ago, we heard that they had been murdered. Your contact was supposed to investigate before meeting you when he came to his end." He shrugged. "The countess fears that it could be significant, that they could have a new weapon, but I believe it was simply overconfidence."

Sesshoumaru turned and sat down on the edge of the fountain. "Sit," he said.

It wasn't a request. Brandt settled down on the marble. "My lord?"

"If we do encounter each other again, you must learn that I do not accept ambiguities or platitudes. You will tell me exactly what has happened, and I will decide if the countess is correct or not."

Brandt studied the taiyoukai for a moment and then smiled. "Of course. Forgive me, my lord. I will not forget. And I will start at the beginning."

* * *

She lingered for far too long in the Forum, wandering from stall to stall in the heat. Columns cast their shadows across her path every once in awhile - ancient and stately, despite the grubby children playing tag around their bases. She could only see a fraction of what would be excavated in about a century, but it was still overwhelming to see the hulking stone towering above her head. A couple times, Kagome caught herself wishing that her immortality had began much earlier, and she had been given the chance to live through more history.

"I'm going soft in the head," she muttered each time in Japanese.

To distract herself from her own thoughts, she stopped at a stall piled high with a vibrant vegetables. "These are beautiful," she said to the plump woman with tawny curls on the other side of the table, not trusting her Italian to say much more. She selected several smooth, white mushrooms and handed over a few coins.

The farmer's wife welcomed the money, grinned and said something completely indecipherable. Kagome shook her head. "I don't speak Italian very well," she explained, although her poor accent had given that away already.

"For your love. Your husband?" asked the woman, still smiling. She pointed down the row, and Kagome turned to see a tall, dark-haired man watching her. He didn't look away, but met her eyes as his own glittered with interest.

Kagome blushed. He was handsome. It had been a long time since any man had looked at her like that. "Oh, no," she said, shaking her head. "These are for... for my brother."

"Ah." The farmer's wife nodded with a grim fold between her eyebrows, and Kagome realized that she was being marked as an old and unfortunate maid. "But someday, you might meet a man to marry!" the woman added, seeing the miko's hesitation. Her eyes flashed towards the stranger again.

Kagome gave the well-meaning woman a small smile. "For now, at least, my brother needs me." She tapped the mushrooms in her basket. "Thank you."

"Yes, come back soon. We will have more," the woman said, grinning again.

The miko nodded and wandered off, suppressing the sigh at the back of her throat. The man who had been watching her was nowhere to be seen, and she wallowed in self-pity as she made her way through the rest of market. Every woman - married or single, young or old - said the same thing the farmer's wife had when they discovered she did not have a husband. And she always answered in the same way - she had Sesshoumaru.

And she had her curse. She wasn't sure which was the bigger barrier to the prospect of ever having a normal relationship with a normal man.

The shadows of the columns shortened, and Kagome decided to turn back home and forget her own woes. If Sesshoumaru expected her to cook dinner and present livable quarters to his guest, she would need to hurry. It seemed ridiculous - she and Sesshoumaru didn't need to eat to sustain their lives, although they did, because hovering on the edge of starving was quite uncomfortable. Still, they skipped meals quite often and cooking a meal for three was something she hadn't done in several years. It wouldn't do to forget how to make a proper soup though, and she quickened her pace.

She walked past the eight columns of the Temple of Saturn and joined the masses moving into the smaller avenues leading out of the Forum. It grew more and more crowded, and eventually, Kagome was forced to come to a stop. Groans of wholehearted displeasure went up in front of her, and she listened carefully - a man up ahead was raving and drawing angry retorts from the crowd.

"Galileo again," muttered someone close to her.

"When he's excommunicated, these fools who worship him instead of the one, true God will learn!" snarled another.

Kagome resisted the urge to lord her superior knowledge over the people around her. Her goods would soon be crushed, and besides, the old astronomer would be proven right eventually. Declaring her support of the idea that the sun revolved around the earth would only get her arrested and thrown in front of the Inquisition, alongside Galileo and the man advocating for him up ahead. She was fairly certain Sesshoumaru wouldn't appreciate the peaceful protest if it required a jail break. He really wouldn't appreciate his supposed sister being branded as a heretical idiot who couldn't keep her mouth shut. The majority of Galileo's most rabid supporters at least had that much sense - present protester excluded, naturally.

And so, to avoid the raging ignorance mounting around her, the short miko was forced to wade through the thick of the crowd. Enduring her fair share of swears, she finally reached the narrow alleyway that opened up between the buildings.

She took a deep breath as soon as she was free of the mob. No one would follow her, she was certain - the alleys, even so close to the center of the city and in the daylight, were not safe. Not for mortal beings, anyway - but since when could they hurt her? What kept her from marrying a human also kept her safe, and Kagome decided she would rather face a few scrawny thieves than the crush of people in the street. She set off to find an exit.

The sun, despite being nearly overhead, did not extend its golden fingertips this far. The tiled roofs of the houses almost touched, and she found herself wandering through a musty darkness. She could hear cats - what she hoped were cats - padding their way across the terra cotta tiles above her, almost certainly drawn by the smell of the chicken in her basket.

Kagome passed a hand over her brow when she came to an intersection. Onward, to the right or to the left? Left, she decided, reasoning that it was roughly the direction of home.

But she was forced to change direction twice more, and soon, Kagome was completely turned around. Without the sun to guide her, she had little idea where she lived or even how to get back to the Forum. She tried to find a way out, but only managed to discover a dead end.

The miko contemplated the wall that reached up four stories high and tapped her foot. "Should've brought breadcrumbs," she muttered.

A sudden prickling of the hairs on her neck told her that she should turn around and face whoever it was that stood behind her. If it had been Sesshoumaru, he would already be mocking her for getting lost in the back alleys of Rome. If it had been someone harmless, they would have made a noise. And yet, she felt no pull in her heart or her stomach - that uncomfortably welcoming feeling she had when she encountered the shape-shifters.

And so, she turned. If not harmless, they could not harm her, and that was an important distinction to make.

"You followed me. I should have known better," she said to the dark-haired man from the market, who stood where the alley hooked around the corner. The spark of interest in his eyes had not faded, but in the dim light, it was no longer flattering to have it bestowed upon her.

"This isn't very wise, you know," she said, her voice surprisingly steady. The knife at his side was inconsequential, really, but she still thought of how much blood she might lose. It was a narrow alley, and although she would live, she had to get past him.

The man advanced in silence. Kagome stood her ground, her hands wrapped around the handle of her basket. "This is pointless," she said, trying to intimidate him with her calm just as much as he intimidated her with his. "I don't even have any money." Her eyes swept over his well-dressed form, and she realized that money was probably not his object. Although it had not occurred to her before, the idea that he was after what some perverse men wanted from unwilling women crossed her mind in a flash of hot fear.

She took a step back. She would wait until he was close, she decided, and then unbalance him somehow before running for it. He was tall and thin, but didn't look nearly as strong as Sesshoumaru. He could be knocked down more easily than a stout man. Simple, right? The knife didn't matter, she reminded herself. It would hurt, but it would heal soon enough. As for any other possibilities - well, they weren't possibilities yet.

Her muscles began to tense - he was drawing near. Kagome couldn't help but press her eyes shut for a moment as he lifted the hand that held the blade.

She opened her eyes again and looked at her silent assailant, preparing to crash into him. The knife was pointing towards her - directly at her chest, instead of raised high above his head. This would be painful, she realized, but she had no time to rethink her plan.

But just as she bent her knees to spring forward, a dark shape rose from behind the mortal man. Claws wrapped around his throat and tore across the soft flesh like paper in one quick, vicious movement. Blood sprang from the wound and splattered Kagome on her face while her would-be murderer gurgled and grasped at his own attacker. But the jugular was severed, and it took only a brief moment for the human to die, still suspended on the demon's claws.

The youkai tossed the body behind him, where it rolled over and came to a stop. The knife had already clattered to the ground next to Kagome's basket, but she didn't move to retrieve it. "What did you do?" she shrieked.

A pink tongue flickered out of his mouth to clean his bloody claws. "Such gratitude," said the brown-haired, blue-eyed demon. He spoke in Japanese, as she had, but the German accent was recognizable.

"But you killed him! He couldn't have hurt me!"

His eyebrow raised. "Oh? Are you so sure?"

"Yes!" The fear of rape came back to her mind, but Kagome continued to glare at the unfamiliar youkai. "I knew what I was doing!"

The demon took a step towards the miko, pausing when her powers flared around her, creating a corona of pink light that was visible in the dark shadows of the alley. "That wouldn't have worked on him," he said, gesturing to the barrier, but keeping well away from it himself.

"Don't come closer. You're a demon, and you just killed a human, regardless of what he was trying to do to me!"

The demon cocked his head and gave her a grin that lacked all tenderness. "He said you were too trusting of your own kind."

Kagome blinked as the barrier sputtered and died. "He? He, who?"

"Miko, do not ask foolish questions."

She edged around the plain-looking demon to see Sesshoumaru strolling towards them. "You know this guy?"

The taiyoukai glanced at his companion. "This is Brandt. He is the Countess Gisela's cousin and advisor." He paused near the body of the human male and frowned. "I thought we had agreed to let him live. Briefly, at least."

"You knew him too?" Kagome's eyes were wide.

They ignored her. "I followed for some time on the roof. I expected he would say something to her, but he advanced quite fast. It was a choice between letting the girl go through considerable pain or saving her from it." Brandt glanced back at Kagome and sniffed. "Perhaps I should have chosen differently."

"What is going on here?" the miko demanded.

Sesshoumaru leaned over the corpse and pulled a necklace out from under the dead man's doublet, breaking the chain with ease. The pendant was large and silver, and when Kagome stepped closer, she could see that one side depicted a man stringing a large bow. It spun in Sesshoumaru's grip, and she saw the same man blinded a cyclops with a spear on the other side. "Odysseus?" She frowned at the dog demon. "I don't understand."

The taiyoukai straightened and pocketed the pendant. "And that is the way it will remain," he said, as Brandt gave a slight nod.

"I doubt he could have told us anything beyond what we know already." He flicked one claw towards at the miko. "Why haven't you taught her how to fight?"

"Hello, right here!" Kagome said, waving a hand.

Sesshoumaru shrugged with one shoulder. "What is the point? She lives forever, and if we encounter the shape-shifters, I will fight them alone. She could never amount to my skill and therefore, would only hinder me." He looked at the body once again and missed Kagome's venomous glare. "She does not need to concern herself with these mortals, after all."

Kagome set her hands on her hips. "Now, listen to me for a second!" she snapped, so loudly that birds could be heard fluttering away from the rooftops above them. "That guy just tried to kill me! I think I have a right to know about this. I've figured out the general picture anyway, so what's the harm in filling in the details? And if you tell me it's none of my concern, I swear to the kami, I will fry the both of you!"

"Can she actually do that?" Brandt asked, looking at the dog demon.

Sesshoumaru gave a look to the miko that would have frightened most battle-hardened soldiers, but she returned it with her own harsh stare. "Yes," he said shortly. "Although it would be extremely unwise of her to do so."

"Well, I think it's a pretty fair reaction to the fact that whatever you've been hiding from me almost got me sliced into little bits!" Kagome growled. "Now, tell me what's going on!"

The taiyoukai's eye twitched. "You do not have to live with her for eternity," he muttered.

Brandt took a deep breath. "As you wish, my lord," he replied. "But perhaps we should go somewhere else to discuss this?"

Kagome took a deep breath. "Our place is close, isn't it?" She gestured to the corpse without looking at it. "Shouldn't we hide that?"

"It will be clear what has happened to him when he does not return," Sesshoumaru replied. "You should not walk through the streets looking as you do."

She knew what he was talking about, and she went to her fallen basket to retrieve the square of cloth she kept at the bottom. The beautiful mushroom were lying in the dirt, and she pushed one more aside before grabbing the fabric and wiping the blood off of her face and neck. The spatter on her dress had seeped into the dark gray cloth and no longer had the bright red shine of fresh blood, although she could still smell its coppery scent.

"We're moving again, aren't we?" Kagome murmured as she finished.

"Yes." The edge in his voice told her that he blamed her for the situation _entirely_. He turned and nodded towards the bend of the alleyway. "Go. Retrace your steps until you are able to take a left. That will lead you to back to the street. We will be following."

Kagome nodded and walked away - behind her, Brandt and Sesshoumaru talked in sotto tones.

Her fingers still tingled with the power she had summoned - the first time since the encounter with the shape-shifters in India. She had let them lie dormant for too long, and when she had finally brought them to the surface, she had directed it towards Sesshoumaru and an apparent ally. "Idiot," she murmured. "He'll kill you the next time. And for good reason. Who wants an unstable miko around?"

She had certainly used her trump card for the first and last time. Sesshoumaru would be grievously injured if she used her power against him, but he could still push aside most spiritual attacks. She suspected he avoided it only because being singed was not entirely convenient. Same went for why he was willing to tell her this tremendous secret he now carried - he just didn't feel like putting up with the consequences of _not_ telling her. If Kagome had been in a better mood, she would have laughed at the way the taiyoukai had surrendered to the threat of an eternity of her complaints. Oh, the sway a woman might have over the most powerful of males!

Turning where he had told her to turn, Kagome found herself only a few dozen yards from the street where their apartment stood. She flushed when a soft chuckle came from overhead. If she had only gone the other direction, she wouldn't have been trapped with that man. Maybe he would have lived.

Although, from what she had seen, Brandt was not about to give charity to any human. Including her.

She trooped down the street, deciding this little powwow with the strange demon and an annoyed Sesshoumaru wasn't promising a lot of laughs, and she might as well get it over with. When she reached the door of the apartment she and the taiyoukai shared, she didn't wait for them. They were inside already - waiting at the kitchen table as if they had stayed in the cool room all morning. Brandt was inspecting his now blunt fingernails - he had a mastery of a concealment spell that even Sesshoumaru did not have. Sesshoumaru was gazing out the window from his seat.

Kagome closed the door behind her and crossed the room without a glance towards either demon. The basket had been left behind in the alley, along with all of the food she had bought that morning, but she sliced a loaf of bread and some crumbly cheese that she kept under a damp cloth. The grapes she had bought two days ago were slightly wilted from the heat, but she put them out anyway, next to a dish of jet black olives. She poured each of them a glass of wine and sat down at the end of the table, folding her arms on top of the wood.

Sesshoumaru nodded towards Brandt, and the brown-haired demon pulled a sheet of vellum from his sleeve, flattening it in front of her. Kagome leaned forward over the strange little markings. "I can't read this."

Brandt snorted. "Of course, you can't. It is our language," he replied. He ran his finger down the list. "These are the clans that have been wiped out in the past few decades. By humans." There was a viciousness to his tone that made her want to run, to cower in the corner.

But she looked at him instead. "I'm sorry. I don't know how many demons there are on the Continent. Is this a lot?" There was a soft breath from her other side, and she turned to Sesshoumaru. "You know how it was in Japan. Sango was a demon slayer. Monks and priestesses killed demons too."

"That was an ongoing war. _This_," Sesshoumaru bit out, sweeping one hand over the parchment, "is an extermination."

She looked again. "How many are in a clan?"

"Depends," Brandt muttered. "A few dozen, usually. Sometimes smaller. Sometimes larger. These are the ones we know about." His tongue ran over his fangs as he studied her. "Don't you care? I was under the impression that you were overly emotional about such things."

"Wonder where you got that idea," she murmured, her eyes flickering over to Sesshoumaru's impassive expression. "Of course, I care. I care a lot. But I'm confused."

Sesshoumaru drew out the pendant he had taken from the human's body and placed it atop the vellum. "The Order of Odysseus. You recognized him?"

"Odysseus? Sure." She tapped the side that was showing. "He was in the Trojan War, and on the way back, he got lost. He wandered for years and years with his crew, but eventually he was the only one left. His wife, Penelope, had to fend off all these suitors. This is him when he got back. He was disguised, and he defeated all the suitors with the bow that he could only bend. It's all in _The Odyssey_. I had to read it in my literature class in school. It's a classic. Even now, in this time."

Brandt was frowning, but Sesshoumaru ignored his confusion. He flipped the pendant over. "You left out significant portions of the tale."

Kagome nodded. "Oh, well, he had lots of adventures while he was trying to get home. This is the Cyclops that he blinded, but he also tricked gods, went to the Underworld, fell in with a sorceress. That sort of thing."

"He was known for defeating creatures greater than him," the taiyoukai said, his eyes flashing. "They laud him for his trickery."

The miko ran her finger over the edge of the pendant. "So they're after you? This Order of Odysseus? They want to kill demons?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

"Even the ones... well, the ones that don't hurt anyone?" She glanced at Brandt. "Unless they have to?"

"Yes."

Kagome paused for a moment. "Are they good at it?"

"Exceedingly."

She swallowed. Brandt sneered and pushed back his chair, letting it scrape harshly against the stone floor. "I think she's beginning to realize the problem."

"Do they - does _he_ - know about us?" she asked.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "The countess and Brandt became aware of our curse when you were observed as remaining untouched by time, and when I recovered from injuries more quickly than any other demon could. As for the Order, I cannot say. Probably not. Not yet, that is."

"What do you know about them?" She felt a bit dizzy, but she would not show weakness in front of the dangerous demon to her right. Brandt had obviously acquiesced to this meeting out of deference to Sesshoumaru, but he _hated_ her. She wondered which of the little markings on the parchment had made him hate humans so much, or if it was all of them. It didn't matter, she decided.

"We know little," Sesshoumaru said. "They are cowards and lurk in the shadows. You are the first one they have attacked in daylight for some time."

"And alone," added Brandt. "They usually send teams of their killers. They exterminated most of the weaker demons a long time ago."

Kagome's mouth dropped open a little. "They think I'm a demon?"

"Of course. They have been watching the two of you for some time. While they cannot know the cause, it is hard not to notice that you are the same as you were in England. And, of course, you were accompanied by a known demon." He shrugged. "They assumed you were a demon as well. They are cowards and fools."

"Still, they aren't unsuccessful if it has Sesshoumaru's attention," she murmured. "What else do you know?"

Brandt smiled that predatory smile of his again. "We do not know where their base is, who they are, how they are organized or even how they learned of our existence. We have no idea how they track us, although we have guessed that they have people like _you_ on their side - magic users to seek us out. They rarely talk and the few that have been captured know nothing but their contempt for us. The only thing that is clear is that you were attacked by possibly the only organization in these lands for which religion doesn't matter. Protestant. Catholic. They all hate us equally." He leaned forward again and leered at her stricken expression. "Unity is so easy when you hate something as much as they do."

Kagome avoided his eyes. She knew instinctively what Brandt was - what the countess must be too, if they were really cousins. The heat of his ire was not just emotional, but physical. The wood underneath her fingers was growing warm. His disguise was slipping, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see his hair turning crimson. A fire demon. "I guess you've set up some sort of organization to combat this Order of Odysseus?" she asked.

"The countess leads Echidna's Alliance against them, yes," Sesshoumaru replied. "Youkai from all over the world have joined, although most of them are in Europe. As the Order's influence spreads, however, so must the Alliance."

Echidna. The mother of all demons. If Kagome remembered her mythology correctly, Echidna survived the death of many of her children and her mate. It was fitting. "I want to help."

Sesshoumaru almost smirked at the look of horror that passed over Brandt's face. "You?" the fire demon muttered. "You're human!"

"Not really. And even if I am, they think I'm a demon, and they're trying to kill me." She turned to Sesshoumaru. "And you. We promised to look out for each other, after all."

"That was not the precise oath we made," he replied.

"I know, but after all this time, I couldn't exactly let something happen to you," Kagome said. "Please, let me help."

Sesshoumaru ignored the soft noises of disgust coming from his male companion. "The greatest help you could be to our cause is information of the future."

Brandt sat up straight. "She is a seer?"

"No," Kagome said, and neither she nor Sesshoumaru offered any more explanation. She took a breath. "Are you sure?"

His eyes narrowed. "You have been keeping your own secrets, miko."

She squirmed. "Maybe. I'm not sure. All I know is that in my time, there are no demons in Japan. Not in Edo. Any demon that I've seen there came from your time," she said. "I don't know about other places in the world, but most people think that demons aren't real and never were. They're just creatures from old fairy tales, told to children."

The sound of splintering wood came from Brandt's direction, but Kagome kept her eyes on Sesshoumaru, who sat still and quiet for some time. "Then they are successful," he said at last.

"I didn't say that," the miko said immediately.

"We cannot easily hide from those that can sense our auras. Have you ever sensed one?"

She shook her head. "No, but Edo is so much bigger these days. There are so many distractions."

Sesshoumaru was silent, and she leaned forward slightly. "Maybe you just learn to hide more effectively?" she suggested.

It was the wrong thing to say. Sesshoumaru overturned the sturdy table as if it were made of paper. Kagome's knuckles turned white as she gripped her chair, trying not to flee. "Hide?" he growled. "Hide from you humans?"

She stood slowly. "You don't understand. You _can't_ understand. You know the guns that humans use today. Those are nothing, Sesshoumaru! You think demons are so fast and so strong. There are weapons from my time that could kill thousands of youkai with the touch of a button. Tenseiga would be a joke." Kagome shook her head. "There are six billion humans in my time. Six _billion_, and they're everywhere! You want hope? You have to pray that you can hide at all! It's your only chance!"

Sesshoumaru's jaw clenched. The moment of unrestrained rage seemed to have passed as quickly as it came. "Six billion?"

"And counting."

"Like cockroaches," snarled Brandt.

"Actually, I think there's a lot more of those," Kagome said, receiving a quick glare from both youkai. "But... I see the comparison."

She turned away from the two shell-shocked youkai and went to the window. Sesshoumaru joined her sooner than she would have expected. "Are they gone?" he asked. "Or are they hiding?"

"I don't know."

"I will not allow my kind to be exterminated like vermin," he said.

"They can't kill us," she pointed out. "I mean, you'll always be around."

"Unless the shape-shifters kill us," Sesshoumaru replied. "Or if we kill each other."

Kagome nodded, a smile touching the corners of her lips. "Well, maybe we can amend our promises a bit. I won't kill you. You won't kill me. We'll look out for each other. Not just to protect the world from ourselves, but us from the world. And I'll do whatever I can to help youkai survive." The smile spread. "We are, after all, brother and sister."

"Do not be ridiculous," the taiyoukai muttered. "And your plan has little merit. Eventually, we must become enemies. Humans always fight youkai in the end."

The miko lifted a brow. "That's premature. You haven't seen the end yet."

"I suppose you are correct."

They stood, looking out the window at the blank, terra cotta wall of the building across the road. Brandt was shuffling around behind them, setting the table upright again, but moving with a deliberate silence that let them know he was listening to every word.

Kagome shifted her weight. "So, we're still together on this?"

Sesshoumaru ran his tongue over the points of his fangs. "It is probably the best course of action at this time."

The miko smiled again. "Alright." She leaned against the windowsill and looked down at the street. "Where are we going now? You said they usually send groups, but that man was alone. They thought that, separated from you, I was weak, and they only sent him. When he doesn't come back, they'll send more. Our greatest advantage is that they don't know about our immortality."

"I agree." He turned to the fire demon, who was now leaning against the chair he had previously broken. "We will go north."

Brandt lifted his head. "Then you will work with us, as the countess wishes?"

"For as long as I am able," Sesshoumaru replied. "I have other responsibilities that will present themselves in time."

"We understand that," the other demon said. He bowed his head. "I will escort you to our base, of course."

Sesshoumaru considered his offer for a moment. "Am I to understand that you are inviting us to remain at the Alliance's base for some time?"

Brandt's lips almost flickered into a smile. "The countess could have sent someone else. That was my final task - to ask you to return with me." He glanced at Kagome, and amusement died. "Gisela knew that the miko would not allow you to come alone. I have been asked to give assurances for her safety, although it is not necessary, considering your curse."

"We can still be hurt," Kagome muttered.

"And if anyone attempts to do so, I'm certain the countess will understand if you purify them," Sesshoumaru added, still looking at Brandt.

Kagome tamped down the urge to roll her eyes. She knew it wasn't about her - Sesshoumaru would simply see it as an affront to his own honor to have her injured. He would feel the same about a particularly fine riding horse. "I'm sure that won't be necessary."

Brandt bowed in recognition, if not with a bit of hesitation. "We need to leave tonight. I will return at dark."

Sesshoumaru saw him to the door and shut it behind him before any of the oppressive heat could worm its way inside. The tension in the room seemed to slither out of the room as well, and when the taiyoukai turned back to Kagome, he found her head bent forward. "What are you mourning?"

"Besides the obvious?" she asked, looking up with a watery gaze. "I... I'm not sure. I guess it's hard to leave again."

"We could come back to Italy," Sesshoumaru replied. "But we must wait until it is no longer full of members of the Order."

Kagome nodded. "Are there really that many here?"

Sesshoumaru gave her a pointed look. "We do not know. But it is speculated that Rome may be a base of operations for the Order, and so we must leave."

"I understand. You didn't mention those rumors earlier though."

The taiyoukai let out a soft breath. "Brandt did not wish for you to know. I do not share all of his concerns."

She brightened a bit. "Are you saying that you trust me, Sesshoumaru?"

He leaned back against the door, looking complacent, but years of constant companionship revealed his discomfort to Kagome. "I already informed you that I believe we may one day turn against each other," he said. "However, we have fought together. If we continue on our present path, I would imagine that we will fight side by side again."

Her heart suddenly swelled with amusement, pushing out the worries that had plagued her minutes ago. "So is that a 'yes'?"

Sesshoumaru frowned. "Take it as you will."

The miko laughed under her breath. "Well, if nothing else, I feel better. I think we'll be fine, here or anywhere." She glanced around their small apartment and noted the satchels and trunks still full of their belongings. They never did have time to unpack after arriving. "I don't think we'll take very long to get ready, even if we are leaving tonight."

"Then pack our essentials, and I will take you to dinner at the inn."

Kagome looked up. "Really? Why would you do that?"

"You would prefer to eat the food that you spilled in the alleyway? I would be glad to retrieve it for you. Or perhaps you would like to go without food immediately before a long journey?"

"Smart ass," she muttered with a roll of her eyes. She wagged a finger in his direction as she crossed the room to gather her most precious possessions - including the blue silk sari from Surat - from her room. "I'm going to order the most expensive thing on the menu for that."

"I would not have expected otherwise, regardless of my acting like a 'smart ass'," he replied, his tone telling her exactly what he thought of her crude words. He lifted his chin, preparing for her retort.

Instead, Kagome paused in the doorway of her bedroom and smiled at him over her shoulder. "Thank you, Sesshoumaru."

He nodded, and they each went to pack up their things.

* * *

A/N: Well, I know the wasn't very Christmas-y, but I do hope you accept it as your present! Merry Christmas (since that one's tomorrow) and all the other holidays you can possibly name! Heck, throw in holidays from April if you want.

Here are a few little tidbits for you:

1. Ijin has written another between-chapters fic, which is now collectively called "Besides" for this story - she's done one for India and her knowledge of the country makes it so real, it's fabulous. Go to her story here (remove the spaces!) and give her some love: http :/ fanfiction .net/s/4518310/2 /Besides

2. This fic tied for 2nd place for Best AU/AR and won 3rd place for Best Drama in the IYFG's 3rd quarter! Kisses and hugs to everyone that made this happen and congrats to all the other winners!

3. Speaking of the Inuyasha Fan Guild, does everyone know that I am one of the mods? I don't know if I've mentioned it, but it's a wonderful resource to find and honor stories! Just Google it and find our website - then join! We'd love to have you.

4. Also connected with the IYFG - the group has a new LiveJournal community called iy_fanguild. Go and add us to your watch list! You can find me individually there too, under my second name, ReplicantAngel.

5. I'm going to start posting drabbles and one-shots and such on LJ, mostly as parts of the contests of the IY communities I've joined. I'll be adding all of them to FFN, the Sess/Kag ones to Dokuga, but I'm not sure about dA. The one-shots, sure, but drabbles might look a bit silly being all separated, since there's no chapter feature on dA. I'll ponder it. In the meantime, The Cricket's Cage collection on FFN will be updated once again after ages of being neglected with these stories, and I might start another collection that's much more targeted to perhaps a certain favorite couple of mine. ;)

6. Someone who identified themselves only as "D." wanted me to put them on their mailing list. Unfortunately, FFN's ridiculous censor cut off half of your email address, and there was no other way to contact you! So D, if you're out there, send me a note or something on any one of my sites/pages/whatever, and I'll add you!

7. History tidbit about this time - Galileo just went on trial for saying that the Earth revolved around the sun (instead of the other way around, which went along with the whole "the Earth is the center of all" thing). Pope Urban VIII, or Muffeo Barberini (his birth name), was a one-time supporter of Galileo and then turned on him. It didn't make him a very popular pope (along with starting an exceedingly ill-advised war), despite the fact that he didn't have most of the other pesky habits that popes had around this time, like fathering illegitimate children and then giving them important political positions, regardless of their competence. As for Galileo, he retracted his claims but spent the rest of his life under house arrest, going blind but also penning another great written work that had nothing to do with heliocentricism.

Whew. That's enough of that. I'm sure I've forgotten something, but I hope not. If I have, shake me and tell me. Until next time, then!


	7. 1649: Triberg

Beside You in Time  
1649: Triberg, Germany

The humans were afraid of the forest. Kagome had told him so many times that this fear would fade in time - soon enough, their situation would be desperate enough to force them into the Black Forest not only for the occasional hunting trip but to live. He had always found such warnings vaguely amusing, although he never showed it. If only the humans knew what _really _lurked in the forest. They wouldn't take one step into its dark shadows.

Sunrise was still a couple hours away, but Sesshoumaru sensed the nearby village of Triberg stirring to life already. Fires would be stoked and breakfast would be prepared by the women, and the men would crawl out of bed and into the fields just as the first rays crested the horizon. His horse, a roan beast the stable boys had laughingly dubbed Lucifer for his nasty temperament, snorted and shook its mane. Sesshoumaru eased him into the forest, letting the steed take his own pace. The dog demon could smell the sweat underneath the saddle, and he had no wish to push the horse beyond its capabilities. Sometimes, he longed for the days of traveling with a lightening-spewing, teleporting, two-headed dragon, but Lucifer was the best he could get in a world where dragons were becoming creatures of myth.

The trees closed in behind him, and Sesshoumaru found himself relaxing. He knew he was far too close to the human settlement to let his attention wander, but his muscles would not obey. He could not stop the thoughts of the luxury that awaited him at the castle - a bath, real bedding, fresh food instead of travel rations. Soon he would be home.

He rolled his shoulders. The truth was that he had spent very little of the past decade and a half at the castle that served as the Alliance's headquarters and training grounds. Even as he returned now, he realized that it had been over eight months since he had last traveled through this forest. Kagome's warnings about the humans encroaching upon the wood had not been taken so lightly by the Countess Gisela von Triberg-Todtnau. She had dispatched him to the north - to the new human empire of Sweden - to establish a secondary base.

Of all his work for the Alliance, the task had been the least enjoyable and also the longest. He and so many others in the Alliance viewed it as a retreat. Sweden would provide a better hiding place for the youkai population, but since when had their aim been to hide? Most of his missions were kill orders - the Alliance would receive reliable (or at least, reliable enough) information about an Order operative, and Sesshoumaru would hunt him down and kill him.

Unfortunately, he had to agree with one argument of the countess's - the humans were multiplying, while the demons were diminishing. For all their effort, the Alliance was still losing. It might have to come to hiding one day.

But Sesshoumaru was not ready to concede quite yet.

It took the entire morning to reach the guards' perimeter and another hour after that to come close to his destination. With the bird youkai that Gisela had sent out to patrol her borders occasionally fluttering overhead, the last hour seemed to pass quickly. Soon enough, the imposing fortress rose into view. The mossy brown stone looked rich at this hour - the small sections of white plaster near its storied rooftop stood out underneath the crossbeams of blackened wood, like printer paper with large X's on it. The lake that had pooled into the cleft of the hills below the castle glittered in the midday sun. The gates stood open, as they did during the day, and he did not stop until he came to the front doors. As a groom took the tired Lucifer to the stables, the countess appeared.

"Did you get my message?" she asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "No. I have been traveling for many days. What happened?"

Her expression relaxed slightly. "I sent you a note before I knew the details," she said, and he frowned at the placation in her tone. She lifted her chin. "The envoy was attacked."

"The one to reinforce Sweden?" Sesshoumaru asked evenly.

"Yes. And yes, our agents are dead. Before you ask."

The taiyoukai took a breath, trying not to snarl in the face of his host - and, for all intents and purposes, his superior - but rage was bubbling up inside of him. He could not keep it all out of his voice. "The agents are nothing to me. What happened to the documents they had with them?"

Gisela blinked a few times in rapid succession. "We'll discuss this inside," she replied, her eyes sweeping over the courtyard full of workers. She turned with a swirl of her crimson gown and walked into the entrance hall. Her personal study was tucked up on the top floor of the castle for her own convenience, so she turned into the front salon. It was not convenient - or wise - to keep the taiyoukai waiting the length of time it would take to get to her room.

"Out," Sesshoumaru snapped at the few unfortunate demons relaxing in the sun-bleached salon. He waited until they scrambled out and shut the door behind them. "This has undone my work," he announced, dropping his bag.

"How?" Gisela circled the table in the center of the room and sat down gracefully at the edge of the brocade sofa. "Many of those that attacked were killed. I see less humans in the world. What do you see?"

"You cannot believe that this was a random luck of the Order. They know about our secondary base. Only one had to live and escape with our documents in order to succeed."

She leaned back, draping one arm over the edge of her seat. "It is a shame that we lost three talented operatives that were going to support your work. And I agree that one living operative from the Order could pose a threat." She paused. "But our agents were in a place infested with Order members. We always knew the risks. So did they."

Gisela's calm made Sesshoumaru feel foolish in perpetuating his own anger. He sat down across from her. "Can you confirm whether or not any of the Order members survived our defense?"

"I have agents there now, looking for evidence to answer your question."

The taiyoukai lifted his eyes. "I doubt we will ever be able to confirm whether they stole our secrets. We must assume the worst."

"So that's what has you worried."

"I am angry, not concerned," the dog demon corrected her, his voice lowering.

Gisela smiled her catlike smile. "Don't be angry, my lord. They had nothing of value."

"Impossible. Not everything can be memorized, and writings are an unfortunate and risky necessity in this fight," murmured Sesshoumaru. "You forget that I will not believe your false assurances."

The countess's smile vanished. "I am not lying. If I was, you could easily tell." She stood and crossed over to him, sitting down again within touching distance. "The envoy was a decoy. While you were gone, it came to our attention that the Order was aware of our attempts to set up another base, but not as to where. We sent two groups out, and they predictably attacked the false one. If they have anything at all, they have documents full of lies."

"I have been recommending such measures for years. What does the true delegation hold in their possession?" he growled.

"Some things that you know already," she said, waving her hand. "Some of which you don't. We can't share all of our secrets, Sesshoumaru. Not even with each other."

The taiyoukai got to his feet. "You would..."

"Yes," she cut him off. "Of course. I have more to think of than just how you will react to everything I do here." She remained sitting, looking up at him, but Sesshoumaru felt as if she was willing him to shrink before her eyes. Her nails, blunted by the concealment spell that she wore even inside the castle, dug into the back of the sofa. "Now. You don't have to worry about any of that anymore. Tell me about your own trip to Sweden."

Sesshoumaru exhaled and wished there was an Order agent beside him, so that he could snap the human's neck. "Your second fortress is finished. It is well-hidden and guarded by a contingent of demons I trained myself. They are young, but most of them have promise. Brandt chose well from the list of volunteers. My only concern is that they will grow lax before they are needed."

"Brandt will be going there every once in awhile to keep an eye on things," Gisela said, avoiding mentioning the men in the true envoy that were apparently on their way there already. She patted the cushion beside her, indicating that he should sit again, and she frowned when he ignored the request. "Although he's not as skilled as you are on the battlefield, he can keep their training going. We need you for other tasks."

"You have information on other agents from the Order?"

"Rumors that need to be confirmed," she replied. Gisela was methodical, and her precautions before sending out someone to kill an Order operative bordered on the obsessive. In the beginning, the Alliance had been too eager to beat back their enemy quickly and early - they had lost valuable soldiers. Gisela now personally oversaw every mission that required a demon to fight the Order.

"I am not going to Sweden again. Not if others are taking care of it for me."

Her frown deepened. She did not miss his rebuke and the quick steering of the conversation back onto their former topic. "No. You're not going to Sweden," she said after a moment. "I think after your extended trip to the north, you deserve a measure of rest."

"This is not a time to rest," Sesshoumaru replied. "Where am I to go?"

She sighed softly. "We'll talk about your next assignment later, my lord. I'm sure you're tired."

It was a dismissal. He was being _dismissed_from her presence. He wondered if his subordinates wanted to rip his throat out when he did this to them, as he wanted to rip out Gisela's throat now. As she looked up at him, her eyes widened, as if she could see into his mind. He turned his back on her, grabbed his bag and walked to the door, yanking it open with more force than necessary.

"Sesshoumaru." He looked back over his shoulder. She was standing, and her hands were folded. The air of superiority faded in an instant. "You have to understand that I'm trying..."

"It's fine," he replied shortly. He did understand, which perhaps was the most infuriating thing of all.

"Is it?" Her hand floated over her brow. "I depend on you more than anyone, you know. I'm happy that you're home."

She gave a faint smile as his eyes flickered towards the open door and the youkai lingering in the front hall. "I never thought I could be accused of having too much emotion before I met you." The smile broadened. "We'll talk later, I hope."

She was not dismissing him this time, but giving him the choice to leave. The taiyoukai nodded and did so, immediately ascending the central staircase to the fourth floor. His room was towards the front, probably freshly dusted for his arrival. Kagome's room was tucked into the back corner of the same floor, where it had been isolated from the other inhabitants of the castle by an awkwardly placed servants' stair and spare storeroom.

He stopped outside of her door and leaned back against the cool, stone wall of the dark corridor. The cold spread over his shoulders and down his spine like trickling water. His heart was still quickened in anger against the countess - if he entered the room now, he knew Kagome would notice and ask prying questions - and so he waited.

Sesshoumaru had come the castle with the knowledge that he was taking an inferior position to the countess. It was not something he begrudged in the beginning - this was her operation, after all. For him, it was secondary. He didn't notice the shift in power. He was absent so often, and his work in the field commanded respect. But he had been a part of this for so long. It was inevitable that his instinct would begin rebelling against the rule of someone that was not truly his superior. It seemed that he was hit smack in the jaw with the inequity of it the moment he stepped onto the castle grounds these days.

Gisela's inborn response was to try to prove that she was worthy of his submission. She would never succeed, of course. They both knew that they would have to part one day - it was the same reason that he and his father had gone their separate ways. Two demons of his and Gisela's power must meet on equal footing. Otherwise, they would slowly destroy themselves, taking the other apart brick by brick in a competition for dominance. It didn't matter that it defeated their purposes of working in the Alliance - the instinct was too strong. It was like a fox chewing his own foot off when it got caught in a trap, except they were each the trap _and_the fox.

He would have to leave before it came to that. And then they would be equals again, able to pursue the obvious - although they were competitors here in the Alliance, they were natural complements to one another. He could not deny that he had never met a clearer match for him than the countess.

Although, sometimes, he wondered if even instincts could not become confused. The miko had long ago given her diagnosis. "She's dangerous, beautiful, intelligent and powerful," she had listed, ticking each one off with a finger. "On paper, she's perfect. But it doesn't always work that way, Sesshoumaru. Don't let yourself get confused by this game you two are playing." It had been unsolicited advice, and he had accordingly ignored it, but sometimes he could not forget it.

It was impossible that the girl was correct. He remembered that she was, despite her longevity, still a human - she had no idea what drew mighty beings like him and the countess together. Gisela would one day be his mate because she possessed the necessary power and prestige that his own station demanded. It was no more difficult than that. The priestess's evaluation suffered from the one trait that he most despised - sentimentality. She thought it was required in a relationship of any kind. She was wrong.

As his thoughts passed over the miko, he realized that her unimagined voice was speaking from the other side of the wall he faced. He tilted his head towards her door.

"Isn't there something less formal than this?"

"No, miss," answered the voice of Ida, the maid that Sesshoumaru had insisted be assigned to Kagome upon their arrival. She was not his sister here, of course, but more than that - Kagome was under his explicit protection. To leave Kagome unattended in his absence would reflect poorly on him, and so, he had chosen the reptile demoness to serve the human girl. "Give me that wool one. Shoving it straight into the dustbin when I get downstairs."

There was a rustle of silk. "Don't do that, Ida! It's my favorite!"

"It's disgraceful." He could hear the sniff of disapproval in the maid's tone. Ida was the sort of forthright servant Kagome had been to him - Sesshoumaru had taken a rather passive aggressive pleasure in choosing her to attend the priestess. "Until I make you one of decent cut and color, you'll be in satin and silk, miss. Like a proper lady, just as Lord Sesshoumaru ordered." The voice tilted at the mention of his name. Ida knew he was hovering outside the door and was letting him know it.

"You know, I can make..."

"Not your place," interrupted Ida. "It'll require spinning, and Lord Sesshoumaru will have my head if you're to do any hard work like that. Ladies can sew and embroider. Carding wool is something else entirely."

Sesshoumaru suppressed a smirk and relaxed against the wall. He could imagine the flash of annoyance passing over Kagome's face and the effort she was exerting to not bring up the fact that she had done far more difficult work in her life. Yes, he had done an admirable job in choosing Ida.

Kagome must have silently given in, because Ida continued, "Good. Come here, miss, and I'll lace you up."

There was a gasp or two for breath before the maid announced they were finished. "Do you think you could check for me, Ida?" asked Kagome, wheezing slightly for the sudden constriction around her chest.

"Don't know why you're so keen. He's coming quite soon, I'm sure."

"I know," Kagome answered quietly. Although the entire Alliance knew he and the miko had received immortality, only Gisela and Brandt knew of the binding force between the six creatures cursed with it. "I know he's close, but could you check? I don't want to barge in on his meeting with the countess. She doesn't like me much."

"You must understand why that is, miss."

"I'm not sleeping with Sesshoumaru!"

The taiyoukai blinked at the exasperation in her voice. Of course they had been dogged by such rumors since they had first become allies, but a houseful of demons (and demon senses) was not a place he expected to hear them. They should know better to spread lies, especially to the point where she seemed accustomed to them.

"She knows that," Ida replied. "But you hold some power with Lord Sesshoumaru, miss. You have his ear. That makes the countess nervous, I expect."

"His ear?" The miko laughed. "You know what he'll do as soon as he gets home? He'll go to her study, and they'll talk for hours. Then, after dinner, he might go to her rooms."

Sesshoumaru straightened at the insinuation in her tone. Where had she heard such things? As the object of other rumors, he had not expected the miko to perpetuate the ones about him and Gisela.

"Maybe, maybe not, miss," Ida said. In the end, she was a proper servant and would not divulge personal secrets about her mistress. The countess was the most eligible female in Europe, if the gossip was to be believed, and the entire castle had an interest in Gisela making a good match, which was far more likely if her reputation was untarnished. "But he goes to see you in the meantime. That doesn't sit well with her."

"Mostly he just makes sure I haven't killed anyone while he's away," the miko murmured. "You know, after that first time."

Ida scoffed. "That idiot deserved that purification you gave him. Trying to attack you while your protector is away? Not even Brandt is that foolish."

Kagome had told him that her and Ida's shared dislike of Gisela's advisor had cemented her friendship with the maid. "Still, I felt bad for Sesshoumaru having to deal with it after a difficult assignment."

"Didn't happen again though. Seemed to work."

"True." Her voice was not as steady as he would have liked. "Will you check if he's done with the countess yet, Ida?"

"Suppose I could." Ida's footsteps came towards the door. "Should I get Ranulf too, miss?"

"Ranulf? Why would he want to be here?"

"He said as much to me. Thought he'd mentioned it to you, miss."

He heard the creak of her wardrobe doors closing. "I guess you can tell him if Sesshoumaru's here or not, if he wanted to know."

The door opened, and Ida came out into the hall along with the sunlight that had filled Kagome's room. She was a plump female, and by far, her most attractive feature was her beryl eyes of her reptilian heritage. "M'lord," she muttered, leaving the door open. "She's decent."

"Ida!" called Kagome. Her shadow fell across the threshold and into the hall. "You didn't shut the... Sesshoumaru!"

She had appeared in the doorway before he could collect himself. "Kagome," he said after a moment. "You look well."

It was a vast understatement. The blue silk she wore exposed the pale expanse of her throat and bare shoulders. It was the emerging style and far more revealing than anything he had seen her in since her school uniform days. When she moved towards him, her voluminous, pleated sleeves and petticoats rustled like bed linens. "You look tired," she replied with a smile. Her small hands brought his own hand towards her, and he could smell the perfume in her woven hair. "I'm so glad you're home!"

The words warmed him more from her lips than the countess's, and he almost forgot to tug his hand away from her. "So am I."

"Have you even been to your room yet?" she asked, not noticing his uncharacteristic agreement. She was sliding his bag from his shoulder. "Come in and tell me about Sweden. Unless you're too tired?" Her brown eyes lifted to look at him.

"I am fine."

She gave him a brilliant smile and led him back into her room, insisting that he sit in the chair by the small fire as she fussed with her hair. "They're having a feast tonight in honor of the new fortress," she explained, sliding a jeweled comb into her tresses. "I hope it's finished," she added with a smile.

"It is," he replied. "It was built before I even arrived."

Kagome nodded. "And are you going to go tonight? Or are you going to sleep for about three days? I would go for the sleep." She put a hand on her stomach and frowned. "Of course, you don't have to wear a corset."

"I will attend, although the countess did not mention it."

"Did you come in swearing about that delegation that got attacked?" she asked.

He frowned. "What do you know about that?"

"Oh, snap out of the paranoia. Everyone knows about it. The countess has had people scurrying in and out of the castle for days now." She watched him in the reflection of her small hand mirror. "Is it bad?"

"No, it is fine."

She set down the mirror. "Uh huh."

He had the sudden desire to change the subject. "You are still friends with that simpleton stable boy," he stated.

Kagome turned, her brow creased in annoyance. "His name is Ranulf, and he is _not_the stable boy. Or a simpleton. Far from it. He's the gamekeeper, which you very well know." She cocked her head. "You were eavesdropping."

"I have exceptionally good hearing," he said, looking into the fire.

"Hmm. Well, yes, I am still friends with Ranulf. He was one of the first demons not to want to kill me in my sleep when we got here. I think that's worth some sort of recognition on your part. You know, as my _protector_," she said, pronouncing the last word with a lilt to her voice She found the concept of an immortal girl needing protection both amusing and patronizing and didn't let an opportunity to make fun of it pass by. "Really though, when you're not here, what do you expect me to do? It'd be lonely if I didn't make friends."

"He is not of your station," Sesshoumaru said.

"You mean, he's not of _your_station," she corrected. "If I could only have friends that are of your station, I'd could only talk with the countess and possibly Brandt. I'm not much of a fan of either of them, you know, and they feel the same way about me."

"You could be more discriminating."

"Key word being 'discriminate'. No, Sesshoumaru. I'll make friends where I can get them," she said. "I don't have anything of worth for most of the youkai here, except a loose association with you. My only gift is my miko powers, which they fear. My only curse is immortality, which they resent. I can't win."

He was fast losing the second argument of the day, but he was saved by a sharp rap on the door.

"Come in!"

The scent of wolf rolled into the room with the gamekeeper. Although Kagome kept her large room relatively free of clutter, Ranulf filled the space. Sesshoumaru stood a few inches taller than the other canine, but Ranulf would have dwarfed the wolves in Japan with his mass. His wide shoulders and thick chest resembled the mythical Atlas more than the lean wolves of home. "Kagome," he greeted. "Lord Sesshoumaru. Good to see you have returned."

Sesshoumaru nodded. It was a lie - there was no love lost between the two males. The main reason was apparent even now, as the gamekeeper walked across the room. Kagome was chattering already, guiding the limping wolf demon to the seat opposite of Sesshoumaru's. She had a light touch and called no attention to Ranulf's disability but took care that he wasn't uncomfortable. Although that limp had earned him Sesshoumaru's straightforward rejection from the ranks of soldiers for the Alliance, it had also formed the bond between Ranulf and Kagome. Just like she had done for Inuyasha years before, Kagome earned the wolf's respect for not treating him like an invalid or a burden.

"Have you solved the problem with the ermine?" Kagome was asking.

His broad, tanned face broke into a grin. "Of course. The pheasant eggs will survive in the spring without those little beasts gobbling them up," he said. "I captured several of them alive. The ladies of this castle will be warm once the ermine turn white for winter."

"Not me," Kagome said with a firm shake of her head. "I don't need it, and you know I don't want those poor little things killed so I can look fancy."

"They eat their weight in food," Ranulf replied. "They will be killed sooner or later."

"Can't you release them in some other forest?" She turned to Sesshoumaru. "What would you do with them?"

The dog demon frowned at her weak attempt to draw him into the conversation. "I would have killed them in their traps. I have no need of ermine fur, and I prefer to eat pheasant."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I should have known better. Of course you don't mind killing cute and fuzzy little creatures."

Ranulf leaned back in his chair, making it creak with the strain of his weight, and ran a hand through his cropped black hair. "For you, Kagome, I will do my best. The countess has enough furs, I suppose. Perhaps I will take them with me on the hunting trip next week."

Kagome beamed. "Wonderful!" She laughed. "Are you sure the others won't tease you about releasing them while you're hunting?"

"They will, undoubtedly, but I will bear it," he replied.

The miko stepped close to him. "Ranulf, you're so..."

"Did you want to speak with me?" the taiyoukai asked, interrupting the miko and earning a huff of annoyance from her direction.

The wolf went still and confirmed Sesshoumaru's suspicions in an instant. "I do, Lord Sesshoumaru." His eyes moved once towards the girl. "Ah, Kagome, could I ask a favor? I haven't had a thing to eat today, and Lord Sesshoumaru hasn't either, I'm sure."

The miko faltered. "I guess I can get you something, but..."

"Do as he asks," the taiyoukai said, cutting her off again.

Kagome scowled at him, her tone sharpening. "Fine, but if any food gets spilled on this dress, you're both answering to Ida."

They waited until the door closed behind her, staring at each other as she hovered outside for a moment. When she gave up and her footsteps receded down the hallway, Ranulf finally let out the breath he held. "Thank you, my lord," he said, his voice barely above a whisper and his strong chin falling to his chest.

The corners of Sesshoumaru's mouth turned down. "She will not be long. Tell me what it is that you could not say in front of her," he said, although he already knew.

Ranulf straightened in his chair and looked the taiyoukai in the eye. Even if Sesshoumaru considered the gamekeeper as dull as dirt and of no use to a fortress that needed soldiers more than a lame gamekeeper, he could not deny that the wolf had a measure of bravery. "I want to ask you for Kagome. I mean, as a mate. My mate." His jaw clenched, and a spark of determine flared in his gaze. "I want her to be my mate."

The dog demon's frown remained. "Have you asked her?" he asked, again aware of the answer Ranulf would give.

"No," admitted the wolf. "Tradition dictates that I must ask her family for permission. She tells me she has none, but you are her protector. You are the only one that can give consent on her family's behalf."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "True."

Ranulf sat for a moment, but soon realized that the taiyoukai was not going to speak again. "I love her," he continued. "She is the most amazing creature I have ever met, either demon or human. Strong and intelligent and beautiful. She doesn't care about... about this." He gestured to his lame leg, looking annoyed that he had to address it at all. "I will provide everything she needs or wants."

"That is obvious," the dog demon replied, thinking of the ermine. "What does she feel for you?"

The wolf allowed a small smile to touch his lips. "I think she loves me as well. We would be happy."

"And that may be the case," Sesshoumaru said, "but I cannot allow you to take her as your mate."

Ranulf's expression didn't change - the smile still lingered - but his eyes emptied of all its cautious hope. "May I ask why?" he asked after a moment, doing an admirable job of keeping his voice steady.

"I do not need to explain my decision."

"Do you love her? Do you want her for yourself?"

The question was the only thing the wolf had said that was at all unexpected. "Of course not," growled Sesshoumaru, "but if you require an explanation as to why an immortal, human girl cannot mate with a gamekeeper who has never been outside of this forest, then you do not know as much about her as you believe."

"I know about the other immortals," whispered Ranulf, his face contorting into something the taiyoukai recognized as wrenching pain. "I will come with you. I will go wherever she needs to go, and I won't interfere."

"You know that is impossible," the taiyoukai replied, resting his head on his hand. "You would be a liability."

"I would not get in your way," the wolf said, bracing himself on the arms of his chair. "I know that any one of you immortals, including Kagome, could kill me in an instant. Do you really think I would be so foolish as to fight them? And for anyone else, I can fight. You know that."

"No."

"But I love her. You don't. You can't think that she's happy with you as her constant companion," Ranulf said, his voice growing deep and dangerous.

Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to break the rebellious brat in half. Did no one remember his status in this place anymore? "I have heard no complaints from her."

The wolf got to his feet, but didn't advance. "Of course you haven't. As if she ever would."

"What do you mean by that?" Sesshoumaru asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You are ice, my lord," the wolf replied, his tone barely civil any longer. "She is... she is warmth and light. She is the very sun. And yet, you strangle her! Do you realize what trust she holds in you? She has put her life - her long, immortal life - on hold for you!"

Sesshoumaru stood as well. "You know nothing of our history. She is the one that asked me to join her."

"Do you know how long it took to get her to admit to me even the slightest misgivings about that choice?" Ranulf snapped. His eyes were blazing. "She is your unfaltering companion, but she is bound to you by responsibility only. Do not let that responsibility take away the one corner of her heart that is not consumed by her sadness at this half life she leads with you!"

"And it is not your responsibility to air her complaints on her behalf," growled the taiyoukai. "You may not take her as your mate. That is my last word."

"It has taken this long. You have been in this very castle for sixteen years. Why do you deny me the time - what must be a short time for you - to be with her?"

Ranulf stepped back before Sesshoumaru could reply, and the dog demon knew why - the miko was coming. Kagome, holding a tray laden with bread, butter, cheese and ale, appeared in the next moment and kicked the door closed behind her. "I dropped the knife in the hallway," she said as she put the tray on the table between the wolf and the dog. "Away from me, thank goodness, but I'll have to get it and wash it."

"Don't trouble yourself, Kagome," Ranulf said. A few drops of sweat had beaded on his brow, but the storm that had raged within him seemed to have passed in an instant. So great was his control that Sesshoumaru wondered for an instant whether he had underestimated the wolf as a potential spy.

The girl frowned. "What do you mean? You're not going to tear at it with your hands and teeth."

"No, I mean..." He paused and rubbed his hand along the back of his neck. He was looking everywhere except at her and the taiyoukai that had just rejected him in her stead. "I really only came up here to tell you that I'd be taking the job the countess offered me to train the archers."

Kagome glanced at Sesshoumaru out of the corner of her eye for a second. He resumed his seat with a casual grace, not looking at the couple. "You said you wouldn't do that. The archery training grounds are two days' travel from here. You'll hardly ever get back to the castle."

"I know, but I feel that I should do something more for the Alliance. I came here to fight, Kagome, and if I can't do that, I will teach others how to fight in my place." He shifted on his feet as Kagome stared at him. "I need to go. They asked for my help in the kitchens for the feast."

"You're not going? But you always attend the feasts." For all of Sesshoumaru's sneering, Ranulf had not been born into a servants' family and was welcome at the table at the castle.

"What place do I have there?" he murmured. He bent down and pressed a chaste kiss to the crown of her head before she could reply. "I'll come say goodbye before I leave," he said. He limped towards the door and left.

Sesshoumaru stood up to leave as well, hoping that he could avoid the scene that he felt brewing in the room. She caught him before he took two steps. Instead of the waspish ire he had become accustomed to, she spoke softly. "What did you say to him?" She turned to look at him. "What was so awful that he's not just running away from this room, but the castle?"

"He asked a foolish question. He did not appreciate my answer," the taiyoukai replied.

Kagome took a breath. "He asked if he could take me as his mate, didn't he?"

"I thought he had not discussed it with you."

"He didn't," she said. "A girl can tell."

"If you knew, why did you ask?" He moved past her.

"But you haven't answered me," Kagome said, stepping in front of him so swiftly that even he was surprised. "Did you really refuse him?"

Sesshoumaru looked down at her with his amber eyes. "Of course. I would imagine that if I allowed it, he would have not announced his departure from the castle."

"_Allowed_it?" she repeated. Her breast rose and fell in deep breaths that he realized she was using to calm herself. "Allowed it? You? Allowing me? And him?"

The taiyoukai raised an eyebrow. "I could not. You must understand my decision. He had some ridiculous notion that he would stay out of fights with the other immortals and defend himself at all other times." He forced himself not to look away from the incredulous, angry expression that she held. "It would have ended in your suffering, regardless. I doubt he would have adhered to his own rules once you were in any perceivable danger. And even if he did remain out of a fight with the shape-shifters, they would never ignore his presence. You would lose your life just to save his. In the end, he would _always_lose his own life. Either way, you would suffer, and our mission against the shape-shifters would suffer along with your human emotions.

"Besides," he continued on, increasingly discomfited by her staring, "you are under my protection in this place. If you took him as your mate, you would be under his protection instead. I could not extend my influence over him. The ones that still hate you would kill him in your place. No matter how this went, it would end in his death and possibly your own. So why are you looking at me as if this was not the only option we had?"

Her mouth moved without sound for a moment. "We had? _We_?"

"You are being repetitious. Stop that," he ordered.

"You're such an idiot!" she whispered, her voice harsh with barely-controlled anger. "Since when was this _your_choice?"

He frowned. "But you agree."

Her eyes widened and she took a step towards him. "You had no right to decide that for me!"

"I am your protector..."

"My _protector_?" she scoffed. "A protector of what, exactly? A human girl that can fry any demon in this place and suffer through any wound? A human girl that can't die? What are you protecting me from besides the ability to make my own choices?"

Sesshoumaru straightened so that he loomed over the girl. "You have no idea how much violence I have shielded you from over these past sixteen years."

Kagome, not to be outdone, lifted her chin and stared back. "You," she said, her voice now quiet and steely, "need to stay out of my personal life. You can have my loyalty as your ally, Sesshoumaru, but we both have to have lives apart from this responsibility we've taken on. We'll go mad if we don't. If I love someone, you need to realize that it's my choice whether to accept the risks that come along with that!"

He studied her for a moment. "And do you love him?"

She blinked. "Yes, of course."

Sesshoumaru waited for the inevitable continuation - the explanation that she only loved Ranulf as her dear friend, as she had described so many men and women over the half-century. But Kagome didn't continue. "You would have accepted him?" he asked.

"That wasn't my point!" she hissed.

"I know," Sesshoumaru snapped back. "I am not asking about my rejection of his suit, but whether you would have accepted him, if he had come to you first."

The question took the wind from her sails. "I... I don't know," she said.

The taiyoukai frowned, his heart beating a rapid rhythm that felt different from the angry pattern during his conference with the countess. "You could not. You know what I said is true. He would die. You would die attempting to protect him. If you managed to live..."

"I know!" she interrupted, waving at him with both arms. "I know! I know that this would have changed things and that it would become so much more dangerous for all of us. I know. I just wanted to be able to make that decision on my own!"

"Hn."

"Even when I felt that he was going to ask, I didn't want to admit that I couldn't be his mate," Kagome said. "Perhaps some part of me just wanted a normal life without all this running around after shape-shifters and immortality and a jewel. Just for awhile, it would have been nice. But I know I can't endanger him for 'nice', not even if I do love him. I can't do that to you either, after all that you've given up for this too. We have a responsibility that we've taken on, after all."

Ranulf's words were ringing in his ears, but Sesshoumaru managed a nod. "I knew that you would come to that conclusion."

"Yeah," she muttered, "I guess that had to be my answer. So stupid..." She paused and then frowned up at him once more. "I would have been nicer about it though. It should have come from me."

"Next time, I will remember that," he commented dryly.

She shrugged. "He would have been good to me," she murmured. Sighing, she brushed past him and took her place in the seat in front of the fire.

Sesshoumaru hesitated. He rarely felt remorse for his actions, but after the frustrating conversation with Gisela and the way he felt he had been pushed around against his will, he could understand Kagome's reaction, if not her emotions. "When we kill the shape-shifters, you will be free to do whatever you wish. Until then..."

"Until then, I wait," she interrupted. She looked back at him. "We both wait."

"Yes," he replied.

Kagome gave him the barest hint of a smile. "I'll see you at the feast?"

He nodded. "I must change."

"Then I'll meet you downstairs." She turned back to the fire.

Sesshoumaru left and headed towards his room. As he passed by the stairwell, Brandt materialized out of the darkness, holding a knife. "Drop this?" he asked, spinning the kitchen blade between his fingers.

The dog demon sighed inwardly. He had been on the road for weeks alone, save for Lucifer, and now he desired that solitary existence again. This constant conversation was getting tiring. "Kagome did, I believe, but I don't think she needs it anymore."

"Ah well, that's understandable," the fire demon said, falling into step beside him. "She's feeling rather emotional, isn't she? And was that Ranulf, the gamekeeper, I saw in the front hallway? The big oaf looked upset. Lovers' quarrel, do you think?"

"I wouldn't know," the taiyoukai lied.

Brant smiled. "Of course." He ran his free hand through his hair, which was the color of fresh blood. Unlike his cousin, he didn't wear his concealment spell inside the castle. Kagome had once called him terrifying, and Sesshoumaru could see why. Brandt in his undisguised form looked like he had stepped straight out of hell with his fiery hair and the eyes that were such a pale ash gray that they seemed to not have pigment at all. "How was the trip home?"

"Fine. Tiring," he said, hoping the fire demon would take the hint.

"But you're going to the feast tonight, right?" His smile widened - something Sesshoumaru had learned was a very good indication of a deeply displeased Brandt. "You're the guest of honor, after all."

"Am I?" the taiyoukai muttered. "Then it seems that I must attend."

Brandt nodded, and the knife twirled faster between his fingers. "You're to escort Gisela."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "She didn't mention it."

"I think it was something that she just decided now." Brandt, as Gisela's foremost advisor and kinsman, usually accompanied the countess to formal dinners. "She sent me to tell you that she's wearing green tonight."

They reached the taiyoukai's door. "I will dress appropriately," Sesshoumaru said, when the fire demon still didn't leave.

Brandt leaned against the wooden door, preventing the dog demon from opening it. "I believe my cousin feels guilty for keeping you in the dark," he said. "But I am the only other one that knows all of the secrets of the Alliance."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. "A wise choice," he stated.

"If Gisela wants to make you the third one to know..." He trailed off and broke into a broad smile once again. "Well, I hope you take it as seriously as she does. I hope you take care with the trust she puts in you. I hope you will remember the magnitude of such a decision."

Cupid was certainly fouling up his job today, the taiyoukai mused. He wondered if Brandt's jealousy sprang from his position as Gisela's advisor, cousin or his hope for more. Cousins marrying was not so unusual among the powerful houses of Europe, and demons were no exception. He had never seen any indication that Brandt felt anything for the demoness, but he would not discount the fire demon's ambition, at the very least. "I will keep that in mind," Sesshoumaru replied. His hand shot out and plucked the spinning knife from Brandt's grip. "I will return this to the kitchen."

"Are you sure?" Brandt asked, still smiling.

"Certain."

Sesshoumaru watched the fire demon leave. He missed Sweden, he decided.

* * *

A/N: Ack, don't kill me! Seriously, I had so many versions of this chapter, I was about to die. In the end, I really like how it turned out. It's always a good thing when I want to hug or run away from my own OCs (when that's the reaction I'm going for). And just to stop the questions now - no, this isn't Kagome/OC or Sesshoumaru/OC. It's Kagome/Sesshoumaru.

Many thanks to Ijin, who pushed me to go even further "with intensity". I just hope I went far enough. ;D


	8. 1692: Salem

A/N: Lots of good news, everyone. First, the Inuyasha Fan Guild has finished voting for its fourth quarter and this fic won:

2nd place in Best Action  
1st place in Best Alternate Universe  
1st place in Best Romance: Other

Second, Dokuga has tallied up its own votes and this fic won:

2nd place in Best Action/Adventure  
2nd place in Best Character Portrayal - Kagome  
1st place in Best Canon (obviously the IYFG and Dokuga have different definitions for AU versus Canon, lol)

Yay! How awesome is that? Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that voted for this story and congrats to all the other winners! :D

In other, fantastic news, Ijin has written another fabulous installment for "Besides", her companion fic to this one. It takes place during the feast that was mentioned in the last chapter - so everyone should go read it, especially if you were one of those that wanted to know what went on during that feast. ;) It's a tad risque, and I love it! Here's the link (remove the spaces, FFN readers!): http :/www .fanfiction. net/s/4518310/3 /Besides

Also(!), there's been some fanart for "The Once and Future Taiyoukai". As usual, you can see all the fantastic fanart made for my stories under my favorites section on deviantArt. Remember, FFN readers, you need to remove the spaces.

"The Young Taiyoukai" by Animaker131 - http :/ animaker131. deviant art. com/art/ The-Young-Taiyoukai-114171704  
"Young Sesshoumaru" by Animaker131 - http :/ animaker131. deviant art. com/art/ Young-Sesshomaru-112258401

And one for an old fic, "Thousandfurs" by doll-fin-chick (which I forgot to mention last update - sorry, hon! I is a forgetful author, lol!) - http :/ doll-fin-chick. deviant art. com/art/ Thousandfurs-110487058

Thanks, guys! I love them. :) The rest of you - go give them some well-deserved love!

Beside You in Time  
1692: Salem, Massachusetts Colony

The clapboard, white-washed church had so many people packed into it in May that the very walls seemed to sweat. Women touched the edge of their caps, itching to drag them off and reveal their coiled tresses. Men took deep breaths, trying to escape the tight collars and sticky breeches over their calves. A few people were weeping in corners while the rest of the villagers whispered to one another. No one laughed, and if anyone smiled, it was quickly smothered.

Kagome took her place in the second to last pew and placed her hands in her lap. "I don't want to hear anything from you this time," murmured Sesshoumaru, bending over his Bible.

"But it's barbaric," she whispered back.

"I am aware of that, but it was you that said that this is an atrocity well-known in your time. We cannot change these events. We can only observe them."

She swallowed and nodded. "I know, but something is _wrong_ here." She turned her head, touching her chin to her shoulder. "You know, they never knew what caused this hysteria."

"_Enough_," Sesshoumaru hissed. "We will discuss this later. For now, you will remain silent."

A plain girl with wispy brown hair and a dirty apron paused beside their pew as the last word fell from his mouth. "Goodman Spenser, you look well," she said, a blush staining her cheeks as she curtsied. Her eyes fell to the woman at the taiyoukai's side. "Goody Spenser."

"Mary," Kagome murmured, nodding her head. When the girl didn't move on, Kagome narrowed her eyes and pivoted her shoulders so that more of the dog demon was hidden behind her. "Shouldn't you be joining the other witnesses at the front?"

Mary Warren scowled. "S'pose so," she said. "Can't let those witches get away with their evil acts." She cast one more contemptuous look towards the older, shorter woman and made her way to the front.

Sesshoumaru leaned over once again. "You should not antagonize that girl," he said. "She will turn that pack of witch-hunters against you. And you are the one person in this village that could most easily fit the description of 'witch'."

"She's after you," Kagome said, "and she sees yours truly as the sister in her way. She'll turn against me soon enough no matter what so that you can concentrate on getting yourself a wife."

Sesshoumaru scoffed. "She is a servant and a child."

"She's nineteen - older than Rin when she took her mate. Although the servant thing is a problem for you, I know." Kagome glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Just do me a favor?"

"And what would that be?"

"If she does get me in front of these vultures, remember that blood is thicker than water." She allowed herself a tiny smile. "Even blood that we've made up."

"That," Sesshoumaru drawled, "believe I can do. Now, silence. I believe they are starting."

The whisper of cotton against rough wood pews filled the meeting house as people began to take their seats. The door at the other end opened, and the three magistrates filed into the room. At the sight of them, the villagers took a deep breath and quickened their pace. The accusers were in place at the front of the meeting house already, and the accused would be brought in momentarily. It had become a well-practiced routine already, and it would not be the last time they all gathered like this.

"The court will come to order," boomed the clerk, and the crowd fell silent. Reverend Parris rose and blessed the proceedings before the Chief Magistrate ordered that Elizabeth Howe be brought in for her trial.

A woman in her fifties entered the room, her hands in irons and with a guard at each elbow. As soon as she crossed the threshold, two girls at the front rose to their feet and screeched. Clawing at their faces, they tumbled back to the floor like heaps of drab cotton. Goodwife Howe recoiled, but the guards held her in place as the girls convulsed and screamed in front of her.

The congregation stirred to life as the doctor and a few others sprang forward to help the afflicted ones, but Kagome remained her place, her hands folded. She only watched Elizabeth, who lifted her chained hands to her head as Mercy Lewis and Mary Walcott writhed on the ground like serpents. "Look at her," she muttered to Sesshoumaru, her mouth turning down. "She knows she's lost already."

"Has she?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Kagome nodded. "I think so. I've read the list of who died, but it was so long ago."

"She has pinched me!" screamed Mary from the front. "She has choked me!"

"Who? Who has done this to you, child?" the magistrate demanded, standing up and bending over the table. His black robe flowed with movement, billowing out and making it seem as if he had black wings.

"Goody Howe! Goody Howe!" yelled Mercy.

"Oh, what idiocy!" hissed Kagome. She gripped the pew in front of her, and her knuckles turned white. "If it weren't so disgusting, I would laugh!"

Ann Putnam stood from where she had sat beside her sisters-in-sin. "Goody Howe has hurt me three times in the most wicked fashion!" she yelled, pointing to the older woman.

Kagome had always thought it impossible to hate a child, but the twelve-year-old Ann had spewed such bile over the past months, that Sesshoumaru's commands were forgotten, and the miko jumped to her feet. She felt the taiyoukai's hand wrap around her wrist in an instant. "Sesshoumaru!" she whispered, turning to him. "Please! She's lying! People have died already because of her. Don't let her do this to Goodwife Howe, too!"

"You just said that the woman dies," Sesshoumaru growled in her ear, yanking her back down to her seat. "Remain _silent_!"

The magistrate was demanding the same from the front of the meeting house, although it was a few moments before anyone could hear him over the din. Mercy and Mary moaned on the ground, twisting on the floorboards just as a fish does when its thrown out of the water. The doctor worried over them, as the chief magistrate asked, "Goodwife Howe, what do you say to this charge? Here are them that charge you with witchcraft."

Elizabeth tore her eyes aware from the girls that were condemning her to death and lifted her chin. Her eyes were shimmering with tears. "If it was the last moment I was to live, God knows I am innocent of any thing in this nature," she said, her voice steady.

Kagome watched the jury - twelve men that had turned their hard gazes towards the accused woman. It was Sesshoumaru that spoke though, low enough so that only she could hear it. "In their eyes, she is a witch already."

* * *

She stood in the small clearing at the edge of the river under the gray sky. The town bridge and hill were behind her, but she didn't want to turn to see the gathering crowds. She remembered the fear that had crept down her spine when Sesshoumaru had brought her to this town, over that bridge and past that hill three years ago, before the accusations or trials had even started.

Of course, Kagome had known about Salem. After discovering her own powers, she had devoured every scrap of information about other women with similar abilities. She had to learn how to help Inuyasha, she had reasoned - her grandfather could only be counted upon for long-winded stories, and Kaede was always stuck behind in the villages when she needed guidance. But her internet searches and trips to the library had turned up more than she had learned in her world history class. When Sesshoumaru had announced the name of the town where they were going to live, she had refused to go. She suspected then what she knew now - that these atrocities against the innocent would strain all the promises she had made to herself to not interfere with history.

They both knew they would stay though. They were drawn to this awful place by forces more powerful than their own free will. It had taken more than two years, but Kagome knew the reason why. She could feel it, right here on this riverbank - a flickering in her gut, telling her that the other immortals were near. She had felt it before, but it was never so strong.

"We should go after them," Kagome said in Japanese.

Sesshoumaru came into the edge of her vision. "Yes. Now would be the time. Most of the town has shown up to watch the hangings. They will be distracted for some time."

The miko turned to look at Gallows Hill. Five nooses hung in a row, ready for the five women that would be put to death after Reverend Parris read a prayer and gave a sermon on the evil of witches and the Devil. "I hate them," she said. "Of all the horrible things we've seen, I hate them the most. Those women..."

"Were dead long ago for you," finished the taiyoukai. "Concentrate on the task at hand."

She sighed. "Fine. What do you suggest?" she asked. "It'll look a bit weird to walk around town with a sword. You can't go anywhere anymore without a dozen pairs of eyes on you."

"They will not question a pitchfork," he replied dryly, lifting the tool he held. He weighed it in his hands for a moment. "Perhaps I should go alone."

"What? Absolutely not!"

Sesshoumaru nodded towards the scene on Gallows Hill. The magistrates had arrived and were greeting the villagers as the last stragglers approached. "This is distracting you, and you cannot fight."

"I can purify them to death," she muttered. "And do you really think that I spent sixteen years in that German castle darning socks and waiting for an absentee dog demon to come and grace me with his presence?"

Sesshoumaru looked at her for a moment before frowning. "You could not have received considerable instruction. I would have known," he said, his eyes sweeping over her body. "The very way someone moves changes when you have been properly trained."

"Well, it's true that perhaps I haven't been trained by the grand masters of archery, fencing and whatnot," she muttered, "but I'm not an incompetent anymore. I won't fall on my ass or anything."

"Are you certain?"

She sent him a withering glare. "Don't be a jerk. What if you get in trouble? You might need me." At his raised eyebrow, she crossed her arms. "Well, it's possible!"

Sesshoumaru started walking back towards the bridge. "You may accompany me. Do not fail to listen to me, however. A few lessons from bored instructors decades ago hardly qualifies you to make any decisions on your own." He looked at her over his shoulder as she made an irritated sound in her throat. "Decisions regarding battle," he amended.

"That's better," she murmured, jogging a few steps to catch up with him. "And it wasn't just bored instructors. It was mostly Ranulf."

"He was a cripple."

Her jaw clenched. "He was very capable," she said. "After he heard that you hadn't given me any training, he said that I needed to know how to defend myself. He taught me a lot."

Sesshoumaru ran his tongue along the back of his teeth, trying not to rise to the bait. "I would imagine," he managed.

The loud creak of wheels sounded through the clearing, and they looked up to see the wagon rolling over the bridge. Five women were huddled in the corner, their hands shackled together. Men and women followed the wagon, crying and reaching out to the condemned. Elizabeth Howe, her hair uncovered and grayer than it had been just a few months ago, broke apart from the others and clutched at the side of her transport. "Only the Lord will judge me," she said, her voice just as steady as it was at her trial. "He will find me innocent of this!"

A man stepped forward and put his hands on hers. "Mother!" he managed before the wagon stopped and he was pushed away.

Kagome paused in her steps. Sesshoumaru took her elbow. "Time is passing. This is our opportunity," he said.

"Someone should be here that knows the truth."

He frowned as the women were dragged from the back of the wagon. "There are many people that know the truth, but they are not willing to speak and risk their own necks. Others have been accused for doing so."

"Then they're cowards! This entire town is at the mercy of vindictive, little girls!"

"It is different from an immortal's mouth. You could never die as these women will," Sesshoumaru said. He took in a breath as the five old women were placed beneath their nooses. "But I agree that only cowardice allows this to continue. The old woman is wrong. It is not their Lord that will judge them, but your history. And it will do so harshly. For now, we must act as we can."

Kagome had been to the first hanging, when only Bridget Bishop had been sentenced to die. She knew that they would take a long time to give a sermon and to try to coerce last-minute confessions from the condemned. Sesshoumaru was right - this was their chance. "They should suffer now for what they're doing," she muttered, turning and walking along with him, across the bridge and away from Gallows Hill. Reverend Parris was just starting his prayer, asking for deliverance from the five witches and their spells.

"The task at hand," Sesshoumaru said again, steering her away from the farce of justice.

"Yes. Sorry."

"You do not have to come."

Kagome gave a firm nod. "Yes, I do." She sniffed and looked up at him, clear-eyed. "I think we should try the orchard first."

They walked along the road, passing no one. Everyone in the village had gone to watch the five innocent women hang, or they were holed up in their homes, hoping no one would notice their silent rebellion. When he was convinced she would not turn back to disrupt the proceedings, Sesshoumaru released her elbow and put the pitchfork over his shoulder, marring his white collar with the dirt on its handle.

"You know," she muttered, taking off her cap and pocketing it, "those awful girls said that they see the spirits of people. What do they call them?"

"Their 'shapes'," Sesshoumaru replied.

"Do you think they've been seeing the shape-shifters?"

"It would explain some of the accusations," he agreed. "But many of the accusations have arisen in court, in fits with no one touching them. And we would have sensed their presence far sooner."

"We're not sure how their magic works yet," Kagome said. "Maybe it started as some awful prank, and the shape-shifters took advantage of it. Or they started it, and those terrible girls pushed it too far. That awful male shape-shifter would just love to be the cause of this sort of thing. And I don't think his sister has any strong affinity for humans either."

"It could be the other two that we are tracking now."

Kagome nodded. "True, but birds of a feather and all that. I hardly think the other two would be great champions of humans and their safety. Don't you think it's possible? Even probable?"

Sesshoumaru glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "It is possible," he said slowly. "Are you looking for some reason to hate them more? A reason to pin human fallacy on youkai?"

"No. No matter what those shape-shifters did, if anything, it doesn't justify this madness," Kagome replied. She took a breath, twisting her hands into her full skirt. "But it would help me, I think, to blame them for some small part of this, since I can't do anything against the humans themselves."

The orchard came into view - closely spaced rows of small apple trees that bore only the buds of fruit to come. The other immortals were here, they knew. They could feel the pull of their unwilling comrades' presence. "It is entirely probable that they had something to do with the witch hunts," Sesshoumaru murmured. He walked to the first tree and picked up the double-sided axe resting against it, handing it off to Kagome.

She knew that he had said it to encourage her determination, but it felt good to receive his affirmation. The axe was heavy in her hands, but she took it and gripped it until the wood bit into her soft palms. "Then they'll pay for that," she said.

"Good."

They stepped into the orchard together. "We have to be careful," Kagome murmured. "Goodman Endicot's house is in the middle of this piece of land."

"I don't imagine they are trying to avoid us," Sesshoumaru said. "We will find them before any human, although perhaps not before the rain finds us," he added, looking up to the sky. The clouds above were rolling up into the threatening thunderheads that suited a day like this.

Perhaps it was the thick air, but Kagome found her breathing a bit labored. She stepped closer to the taiyoukai. "They could be anywhere," she said, watching as a sparrow fluttered past their ears.

"Shape-shifters do not have complete control over their forms. They are somewhat limited in size and shape."

"They were little monkeys the first time we saw them," Kagome muttered. "I think they have considerable control."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "If you are going to create unnecessary fear within your own mind, you'll get yourself killed."

"That makes me feel better." She paused and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Just as she was about to assure the still-moving Sesshoumaru that she would be alright, something moved in the periphery of her vision. The wind was picking up - she hoped that it had only been the movement of the trees. But when she turned her head, she saw the predatory, glowing eyes of a man dressed in black. He did not blink, and he did not move. He did not even bother to hide behind the tree once again. She could only see his head and his arm wrapping around the tree he stood behind, but his wide, white eyes and his maniacal smile made her heart stop cold as if he had been towering over her with all his bulk. He didn't look anything like the blond, slow-witted Englishman they had encountered in Surat, but she knew it was the same creature.

"Sesshou..."

"I see him," he said from his place ten paces ahead of her. "Don't stare. He wants you to be distracted. Kagome!"

"What?" she asked, whipping her head around to look at him.

His mouth was set in a hard line. "Concentrate. He is there to distract you from the other one." He growled deep down in his chest as she made to look back at the man. "Do not turn. Come here."

She advanced, trying to focus on Sesshoumaru's face. He seemed fine, she told herself. He was annoyed, but mostly unconcerned - at least, he looked that way. She found that her breathing became easier. "I'm sorry," she murmured when she got close to him.

Sesshoumaru took her arm and turned her around so that her back was against his chest and his arm was braced across her shoulders. She found herself staring at the brother again - he hadn't moved, except to follow her with his unblinking gaze. "Now," muttered the dog demon. He had switched to Danish - they had spent a quiet decade there and had never felt the barest twinge of the other immortals' presence. It was a difficult language, and she knew he was betting on the fact that the shape-shifters had never learned it in their travels. "I will protect you, but you will need to watch him for me. Do not get drawn in. Only watch him."

She was fairly certain that he was performing his own misdirection - he had never needed help in a battle, even to keep a look-out. Sesshoumaru didn't need to be looking at a demon to know exactly where he was. Still, Kagome felt relief wash over her at his attempt to make her focus. "Don't leave."

"No. I am only going to look for the other one."

His warmth eased away from her as quickly as it had come, but he didn't remove himself entirely. One of his clawed hands rested on her shoulder as he turned, surveying the rest of the land. Kagome did as she was asked and kept the staring demon in her sight but remained aware of the rest of her surroundings too. It was easier when Sesshoumaru was close. "See anything?" she murmured.

"Hn." He squeezed her shoulder ever so slightly. Yes, he had. "I will deal with it."

"What do I do?"

"You still have your powers, correct?"

Kagome blinked, but resisted the urge to give him an incredulous glance. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?" Images of Ranulf bloomed in her mind, but she shook the memories away - she knew she could still call her powers. She wondered what had made the taiyoukai question that fact though.

Sesshoumaru shrugged, unseen. "I was only making certain of it. I believe it's time for your friend to learn the proper etiquette about staring at females," he said. "When I release you, summon your powers and go after him."

"You think that I..."

"You can defeat a demon almost as easily I can, as long as you keep your miko powers on the surface," he said. "That is why I never felt the need to train you."

Kagome gave a small nod. "Alright. Don't go too far though."

"I will not."

His hand slipped away, and she took a breath, summoning her powers. Her skin glowed, as did the axe in her hands. Just as Sesshoumaru had strengthened her, she felt her miko abilities do the same. She could do this - she was sure of it.

There was a sound of metal hitting wood behind her, but she didn't turn. It couldn't be like last time - she couldn't get distracted by Sesshoumaru's battle. He could take care of himself. "Come on!" she growled at the brother, sounding so much like the dog demon. "Why don't you do something instead of standing there like the creep that you are?" He continued to stare as she advanced. The only thing that convinced her that it was a living creature was the soft rise and fall of his chest and the way his hand twitched over the tree bark.

It wasn't a mistake, when it happened. She couldn't help it. It was natural to keep her eyes closed for a moment longer when taking a deep breath, but he disappeared in that moment.

She stopped. It felt like something was squeezing at her heart again, and she wanted to call for Sesshoumaru. Instead, her hands tightened around the handle of the axe which was still flush with her power. Her eyes swept over the orchard and, convinced that he wasn't in front of her, Kagome began to turn in place.

The sharp pain of a foot between her shoulder blades sent her flying forward - the axe tumbled out of reach. Her powers flickered and died with her surprise. A rough pair of hands turned her over before his weight settled on her. His eyes were still glowing as his fingers wrapped around her throat and began to squeeze. "Still a pretty girl," he said, leering at her.

Kagome grimaced as she lost her breath. He was pressing down on her so close to her body, but there was a small space between their chests. She wouldn't be the helpless damsel in distress, she decided, bringing her elbow into the space. A sharp, strong jab to his solar plexus made him lose his own breath and loosen his grip. Her other elbow crossed over and rammed the demon across the jaw just as her knee came up between his legs. The shape-shifter howled and rolled off of her.

The miko righted herself in an instant and scrambled towards the axe. "Pretty," she rasped as she grabbed it, "and not so helpless."

Her powers flared to life again just as the sky opened up above the orchard and a drenching rain began to fall. The large droplets splashed on her skin and dripped into her eyes. When she wiped away the water, she saw that the demon had disappeared again. It was no real surprise - he was far quicker than she was - and she moved towards the two figures in the distance.

There was a whisper at her ear, and she swung around with the axe, making a wide arc in the air. "No one," she muttered to herself, seeing only trees. "Right. Whatever."

She walked slowly, her eyes moving from side to side and straining to see beyond her periphery. Her mind was probably playing tricks on her, she knew, but she reasoned that it was better to swing at everything real and fake than to miss the one true attack. The rain muffled everything, and her own footsteps were only betrayed by the sweeping of her sodden skirt against the grass.

Something brushed across her shoulders, just where Sesshoumaru had touched her earlier. Swinging the axe again, Kagome saw a shadow move out of the corner of her eye. "Creep!" she snapped, turning in that direction. "Just fight me!"

A long, low laugh earned another strike of her weapon - into the trunk of an apple tree.

Kagome tugged at it, but the axe was wedged into the old wood. Her fingers slipped over the wet handle, and its purification power faded without her firm touch. She stood for a moment, wondering if she should walk away from it. A demon could pull it from the tree in an instant with his superior strength, and she was loathe to hand over the weapon to her enemy. He wouldn't have to touch her if he could strike at her with that. But staying beside it could end with him retrieving it anyway, and she didn't like the look of the sharp blade that jutted out from the wood. It wouldn't be pleasant to be shoved against that.

Sesshoumaru, she decided, was her best bet. She would make a run for it - she pivoted and began to sprint.

"No, no, no, pretty girl!" the demon's voice rang out immediately.

The miko shrieked as she was jammed into a tree - it stole her breath by how much it hurt, even if it wasn't into the axe. "Get off me!" she cried, clawing at him.

He pressed her against the sharp, biting bark of the tree. Kagome tried to elbow him or knee him in the groin again, but her arms were pinned to her sides by his large hands, and it felt like he had suddenly grown extra legs - something cold and slithering was tightening around her legs and the tree. "No more of that, pretty girl," he murmured, shaking his head. For once, he was not smiling, but his eyes still bored into her like screwdrivers.

She shut her eyes and concentrated, forcing every ounce of her power to the surface of her skin. "I'm not as weak as you think!"

The demon hissed but didn't let go. "But not as strong as I am," he gritted out.

Kagome gasped for breath as his slithering appendages wound around her torso, holding her to the tree as vines had once done to Inuyasha. "I don't..."

"You think if you touched your dog demon now that he would be purified?" he snarled. His hands were skimming up her pinned arms, proving his point. "Some of us are stronger than you can ever imagine."

"Not you!"

He snickered. "Well, perhaps... you're weaker than you used to be," the demon suggested with a shrug as his hands wrapped around her neck once again.

She struggled against her bindings, but her power was failing as her lungs reached for air. The edges of her vision were beginning to blur and darken. She chanted one name in her head, over and over - _Sesshoumaru_.

The glowing eyes of the demon widened, and the light in them died. He looked so ordinary once the glow faded away that Kagome almost didn't realize that the coils around her were loosening and falling away. His hands fell to his sides, and he bowed his head to look at the bloodied blade that had ripped through his chest from behind him. Rain diluted its crimson color almost as fast as it flowed.

Kagome stared at the axe blade for a moment, listening to the demon gurgle on a few blood-drenched breaths. Her arms were free again, and the shape-shifter was still alive. Automatically, she brought the heel of her hand up with all of her remaining strength and heard the crunch of his nose as she shoved the cartilage up into his skull.

"Down, Kagome!"

She spun towards the tree and hunched over - the only sound in the orchard that she could hear was the squelch of an axe being removed from a chest and the heart-stopping thud of the shape-shifter's head as it fell to the ground beside her. Only when the body slumped over to the side did she hear the screeching of the other one - the sister.

"Brother!" The female shape-shifter was standing a dozen yards away, bloodied but in no mortal peril. She seemed rooted to her spot.

"Brother!" she cried again, and Kagome was reminded of the son that had followed Elizabeth Howe to Gallows Hill. She wondered if the pain was the same for both human and demon. The own feeling in her chest was something unidentifiable as she watched the sister cry out in agony. Was this how those girls felt, to see their "witches" hanged? Justified? Relieved? Proud?

Sesshoumaru hefted the axe, still dripping with the brother's blood. He was splattered in it. "Are you alright?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the other shape-shifter, but addressing Kagome.

"Yes," she said, her voice still wispy. "I will be."

The taiyoukai nodded and advanced a step towards the sister, but the movement seemed to wake her from her grief. "I'll kill you, dog demon! I will rip out your heart for this!" she cried out, skittering backwards. She finally turned, and they could see the wings sprout from her shoulder blades in the seconds before she took to the air. She let out a long, keening wail as she disappeared into the clouds.

Sesshoumaru didn't bother to follow her. He dropped the axe to the ground and looked at his companion. "We will meet her again," he said, sounding a bit tired.

Kagome nodded. "Thanks for the... Well, everything, but mostly the good timing," she said, standing straight again. She stepped over the corpse without a second glance. "Are you alright?" she asked, lifting a hand to his only visible injury - a neat little slice along his jaw. Blood was running down his throat.

"I'm fine. I am mostly bruised." His eyes fell to her throat. "As are you."

"Yeah," Kagome muttered, rubbing gently at her neck. She'd be sore for days. "He wasn't hurt by my powers, Sesshoumaru. I tried..." She kicked out at the shape-shifter's limb, and it turned, revealing the burnt skin that was ripping apart at the seams and showing the red muscle underneath. It must have been incredibly painful, and yet he hadn't let go. "It wasn't good enough," she said.

Sesshoumaru stared at the charred hand, frowning but staying silent.

"I'll do better next time," Kagome added, earning herself only a glance in her direction. His eyes were yellow, not gold - they had lost all of their shine in the last five minutes. She looked down at the severed head of the brother to get away from his strange, searching gaze, but the brother was staring at her as well. She never even knew the shape-shifter's name, she realized. "There can be only one," she murmured with an small, ironic smile.

"What do you mean?" he asked, his voice flat.

She blinked up at him. "Oh. It's from this TV show in my time. Actually, from a bit before my time. And it was a movie, now that I think about it. When I was young. Never mind," she finished, mumbling the last few words in embarrassment.

"I will do that." He looked away again and gestured to the body. "Can you purify it now?"

"Yeah, I think," she murmured. Her powers sputtered, as if the rain doused it from her fingertips, but flared as soon as Sesshoumaru gave her yet another sharp glance. In moments, the shape-shifter was nothing but a pile of ash, and the storm beat it into the ground. "Good thing I managed that. A dead body with several legs would probably fit into the whole witch theory for these people. It'd be a bit hard to explain, and I'm sure it's not in the history books."

Sesshoumaru fell back into his silent routine. The rain had washed away most of the blood, but it had also revealed the exhaustion in his face. Kagome couldn't remember a time when he looked so drained. She didn't feel much different - every drop of rain felt like another ten-ton weight upon her shoulders. They were sodden and injured, and she looked forward to nothing so much as her bed with the goose-down quilt and the warming pan between the sheets.

"Come on," she murmured. "Let's get back before anyone misses us."

They walked back towards the road at a weary pace. Sesshoumaru still said nothing, and Kagome found herself less inclined to cheery talkativeness than she had expected for the day they finally defeated one of the shape-shifters.

On the road, they found people slogging through the mud in small groups. The hanging was over - Kagome could hear whispers about how the witches had refused to confess to their crimes, even moments before their execution. She could still hear the contempt in the villagers' voices towards the executed women, but her voice refused to come to her throat to defend the dead. Her feet could only guide her home, to a little brown house set back from the main street of the village. She hated the place - it was miserable and drab inside, just like the New England winters of Salem - but at the moment, she was never so pleased to see it.

Once inside, Kagome kicked off her shoes. They were soaked through, and she probably had blisters. "I'll warm water for some baths," she said, rubbing at her neck again. "Then, I want to sleep for about a week."

Sesshoumaru didn't respond, and she looked back at him. He stood at the foot of the stairs with an expression on his face that Kagome had never seen - it almost looked like regret. "What's wrong?" she asked. Two new emotions from her companion of a century in one day was a tad startling.

"Nothing. I will wait in my room for the water," he said, mounting the stairs slowly.

Kagome watched him go upstairs before moving into the kitchen. She worried over the fire, stoking it within an inch of its life, before setting the water on and waiting for it to heat. She could hear Sesshoumaru moving around upstairs, back and forth over the floorboards until she came to the unavoidable conclusion that he was actually pacing.

She knew he wasn't concerned about the witch hunts - he really only cared about what humans did to one another when it hurt the youkai population in some way. That, of course, left the only other thing that had gone wrong that day - her own foul-up with the male shape-shifter. He had had to save her, as he always did. She had failed to successfully fend off a demon, something that she did _not_ always fail to do.

Had the shape-shifter been right? If she summoned her energy and touched Sesshoumaru, would he be purified? Or would it be a mere annoyance? She knew that he had rebuffed several holy attacks, some by her and her friends. She had always assumed that he was particularly powerful - so many demons had fallen to her purifying touch. But it hadn't hurt the shape-shifter, or at least, it hadn't hurt him enough. Scorching a youkai's hands wasn't enough if it didn't prevent herself from getting killed with those hands. She _had_ weakened. Or perhaps she had never been strong enough.

So was Sesshoumaru now mulling over the thought that she was useless?

She had watched the ceiling more than the pot, and the water was almost boiling over when she looked at it next. "Damn," she muttered, filling a pot with the overly warm water and grabbing a cloth before heading up the stairs.

Sesshoumaru was sitting on his bed - one of only two pieces of furniture in the room. He had stripped to the waist and had removed his shoes - she could see the bruises that littered his body. Some were so red and angry that she wondered if he had internal bleeding - not that he would ever admit it to her. He had cleaned the cut on his jaw, although she could still see the crimson line. She set down the water by the window. "It's too hot. Let it cool for a few minutes first," she said, heading back out to get her own water.

"Kagome."

She stopped in the doorway. "Yeah?"

"Thank you." He still wasn't looking at her.

She took a tentative step towards him. "Are you feeling alright, Sesshoumaru?" she asked. "Is there something I can help you with?"

He held up a hand. "I was simply thanking you for the water," he said.

Kagome frowned. "Yeah, sure. You're welcome." She sighed inwardly and cast him one more concerned glance before closing the door behind her. She went down the stairs and back into the kitchen, preparing another pot for her own bath and trying to ignore the fact that it would be awhile until she could manage to properly wash her hair. Real baths were luxuries, especially to those without servants.

Just as she draped another cloth over her arm, someone knocked at the door. "Naturally," she muttered.

"Good afternoon, Goody Spenser," said the man waiting outside when she answered. His eyes fell to her unbound hair.

She smoothed it back and twisted it over her shoulder before crossing her arms. "Good afternoon, Sheriff," said Kagome, watching the two deputies standing behind him. "What can I do for you? I was in the middle of something."

He held up a piece of parchment. "I have a warrant for your arrest," he replied, "for witchcraft. You have been accused, and the magistrates will examine you." The sigh behind his voice told her how tired he was of passing out these deadly bits of paper.

She could hear Sesshoumaru descending the steps behind her. "On what evidence?" Kagome demanded.

"A witness says that she saw you glowing with light in the orchard and making merry with a devilish creature who had no eyes."

"Making _merry_?" the miko growled. "You have..."

"She will go with you," Sesshoumaru interrupted, coming to the door. He put one hand on her shoulder. "We recognize the authority of the courts, although my sister is no witch. Your witness is mistaken."

The sheriff shrugged. "That's not for me to decide."

Kagome glanced at the taiyoukai at her side. He was wearing a fresh shirt, unstained by the shape-shifter's blood. She was still covered in filth. "And the warrant? It's just for me?" she asked, earning herself a sharp look from all of the men around her.

"Mary Warren was very clear. She said you were alone," said the lawman.

"Mary Warren," Kagome repeated, her voice flat. "Of course she would accuse _me_."

The sheriff beckoned to her. "Come, Goody Spenser. We have to take you to the jail."

Kagome spun around. "Don't let them do this, Sess..."

He grabbed her wrist before she could utter his true name. Fresh blood had appeared on his chin where he had been injured, and it was bright against his pale skin. "You will go," he said, and the sheriff reached forward and took hold of her other arm.

"Brother!" she cried, reaching out for him.

"I will get you out," Sesshoumaru said as she was pulled up on a horse in front of a deputy. "As soon as I can."

Kagome gave him a wide-eyed look. "Will you?" she asked before the horses took her away.

* * *

The only one that woke as they slipped out of the jail was Goody Proctor, who slept lightly because of the weight of her baby and the uncomfortable floor. "Goody Spenser?" Her sallow face peeked out from between the bars that covered the cell's tiny window.

Sesshoumaru paused and frowned. He had not made a sound - not even when breaking open the lock on the door or snapping off the irons that hung heavy on Kagome's wrists. It was the miko's footfalls that had woken up the woman. "Goody Proctor," she whispered back. "We can get you out..."

"No," the taiyoukai said.

The pregnant woman was already shaking her head. "My husband is in the jail in Boston," she said. The witch hunts had gotten so bad in such a short about of time that prisoners able to travel were taken to the nearby city to await trial instead of the tiny jail of Salem Town. "I cannot leave him to face the court alone." She reached through the bars and took Kagome's hand. "But you should go. I am glad that one of us is escaping from this place."

"We should all escape," Kagome said.

"No," said Sesshoumaru again, his teeth clenched together.

Goody Proctor glanced at the dog demon. "It will be so much worse for the ones who remain in this village. They will find new victims." She shook her head. "The rest of us have already committed our souls to God, for better or for worse. But you are so young..."

Kagome wanted to protest, but Sesshoumaru's grip was strong - he was dragging her outside. "I'm sorry!" she managed to say before the door closed between them.

The guards were unconscious, slumped over at either side of the jail's entrance. "Why did you do that?" she whispered to him as they hurried down the main street of the town. It was so late that the moon had already set, but she could see faint outlines of the familiar buildings - the meetinghouse, the tavern and a few of the magistrates' houses. The unpaved road was still slippery with the day's rain, and their footsteps were muffled as they moved, hugging close to the store fronts and homes.

"Time runs short." He cut her next question off with a look. "You know we cannot interfere."

She sighed, feeling all of her strength leave her limbs. "This doesn't feel right," she murmured, closing her eyes for a moment.

"It is necessary," Sesshoumaru said.

"Right," she said. "So where is it necessary for us to go now?"

"Boston, at the moment," he replied. They followed the curve of the road out of town and through the marshy land beyond it. Sesshoumaru stopped - tiny lights were dancing in the distance on Gallows Hill. They would be seen if they continued on their path. "We will get to the southbound road through the fields," he said, turning off of the road.

She shook her head. "No. They won't tell anyone they've seen us," she said, walking forward without him. "They can't."

He frowned but rejoined her, and as they crossed the bridge, Kagome was proven right. The lanterns were set on the ground around the graves that had been dug that morning. As witches and as ex-communicants of the church, the five women had been buried a stone's throw from where they had died. It was unconsecrated ground and the ultimate dishonor.

Around each grave, two or three people worked, shoveling the dirt aside in the faint light. A horse was tied to a wagon nearby, its flat bed already prepared with proper shrouds for the corpses. They paused as Kagome and Sesshoumaru came close. "Who's that?" one asked, braver than the others.

"The Spensers," said the closest. His face was in shadow, but Kagome recognized the voice she had heard earlier that day calling for his mother - it was Elizabeth Howe's son. She didn't know that he knew their names. "You were arrested earlier today, Goody Spenser. You still in jail?"

She nodded. "And you're all still in your homes, asleep, as far as we know."

"Do you two need any help?" another asked.

"No, thank you," Kagome said. "We know where we're going."

"Good," said Elizabeth's son as he continued to dig. "It's not right for you to suffer like them. You're so young."

"We must be going," Sesshoumaru said, before Kagome could reply.

"Our condolences," Kagome said instead.

The men and women exhuming the bodies of their loved ones murmured their thanks, and they turned back to their grisly work as Kagome and Sesshoumaru continued along the road. It soon turned south towards Boston, and there was a horse tied to a fence that was saddled and ready.

She ran a hand over its flank. "We could have at least offered to help them. They offered to help us."

Sesshoumaru set his jaw. "No. Now get on the horse." He circled the beast and untied its reins before looking at her again. "I have already packed some provisions," he said, pointing to the bundle lashed to the back of the saddle. "There is a ship leaving for England at midday from Boston Harbor. Here is the money for your passage and for your necessities once you get back to Europe." He drew out a small sack of coins from his sleeve and dropped it into her palm.

She felt its weight and glanced up at him. "This isn't enough for two."

His hands wrapped around her waist and lifted her into the saddle. "No."

"Why not?" she asked, feeling her heart clench within her chest.

"I must destroy the records of our presence here," Sesshoumaru replied, releasing her waist and turning to check the horse's tack.

"But then you'll follow," Kagome said, leaning forward in the saddle. "You can make it to the harbor in time."

He took the reins and led the horse back to the road. "You know where I have kept the money and possessions we accumulated over the years," he said. "You may take whatever you wish. However much you wish."

"Sesshoumaru!" she said. "Answer me!"

He looked up at her with the gray eyes that had become almost as familiar as his golden ones over the years. "I am not coming with you," he said. "I have decided to sever our relationship and part ways."

"Why?" the miko asked, reaching down and grabbing the cloth covering his shoulder. "I told you not to make decisions for me! Why are you forcing me to leave?"

"There is no reason you need to continue in this quest with me," he replied, extricating himself from her grasp. "I have decided that I am the only one that can defeat them. Your presence is unnecessary and only succeeds in endangering your life."

Kagome gaped at him for only a moment before her expression twisted into anger. "No! You're not leaving me!" she growled. "I know I messed up today, but I can get better at it! You know I can. And besides, you saved me. That's what you promised to do - to protect me - and you did! If you're not with me, who can save me if I meet one of them again? What will happen to me then?"

"You will run," he said. "There is risk in this decision, but I have decided..."

"No," she snapped again. "Remember that you don't decide for me!"

"And so I never will again," Sesshoumaru snarled up at her. "This is _my_ decision about the direction _my_ life will take. It is unfortunate that it touches your life as well, but it is necessary. You will leave and go back to Europe. I will find the other three immortals and kill them myself."

"So teach me how to fight like you," she said. "Then we can kill them together. I don't see why I have to be sent off like some child! I'm not so young as everyone in this town apparently thinks I am."

"But you _are_ a child," he growled. "I have centuries of training. You have nothing but a few lessons from a lame wolf. Those shape-shifters could tear you apart, and I have been foolish to keep you around as long as I have. Even if you somehow manage to master the sword, you will never match them or me. They are too fast and too strong. The best human swordsman in the world would fall to them. The only reason you lived today was because he was playing with you, like a cat does with a mouse. What if I had been two seconds longer in coming to your aid?"

She shook her head. "You're never late."

"Someday, I might be," he said.

"Sesshoumaru..."

"You almost died!"

The force of his roar silenced her. He glanced away for a moment, and when he turned back, he was calm and impassive as ever. "You are correct. I promised to protect you," the dog demon said. "I am the threat, and now that I have killed one of them, they will hunt me. Sending you away from me is the greatest protection I can offer. Allow me to live up to my oath."

Large tears began to fall down her cheeks. "But... I don't want to leave. I don't care about the danger."

"Do not force me to dishonor myself by breaking my promise," he said, firm but pleading.

Kagome closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "I wouldn't do that to you," she whispered at last, "but what will I do?"

"Whatever you wish," the taiyoukai replied. "You will never have to bend to my decisions again. You may go back to Germany and take Ranulf as your mate, if you so desire."

"I don't know what I desire," the miko said. Her cheeks were shining in the starlight with her tears. "I know I'll miss you though."

Sesshoumaru bowed his head. "I will admit," he said slowly, "that you have come to be quite familiar in my life. Almost pleasantly so."

She smiled despite her crying. "Almost?"

He allowed the slightest smirk to touch his lips. "Almost." He handed the reins to her.

"I'm still angry with you for this," she said. "It hurts. You've hurt me."

"I believe such pain would only have increased the longer this was put off," he replied. "Before or after the shape-shifters were defeated, this had to happen."

Kagome nodded and leaned over before he could step away, brushing her lips across his forehead where his crescent mark would normally be. "Then I have to go. I have a boat to catch," she said as she straightened up again. "Give them hell for me."

"I will. Goodbye, Kagome."

"Goodbye, Lord Sesshoumaru," she said, swinging one foot over the horse and urging him into a fast trot.

He stood for a few moments and watched her go down the dark road. She didn't look back.

Sesshoumaru's hand passed over his heart before he turned around and headed home.

* * *

A/N: I can hear the cry of dismay now!

A little history - all the names I used in this chapter are real, the geography is real, and (I hope) all of characters' roles are fairly accurate as well. (I didn't name the sheriff because I couldn't find his name.) Kagome and Sesshoumaru are obviously added - there were no Spensers that I found. The witch trials are so well-researched that it was impossible to find a family with little known about them that consisted of only a male and a female. Anyway, if you were wondering, Mary Warren's history after the trials is unknown, but she was actually accused of being a witch herself before she started turning on people (again). Ann Putnam, although the most prolific of the accusers, was also the only one to apologize for her actions - she died fairly young after being orphaned and left to raise nine siblings on her own. Mary Walcott got married and had several children. Mercy Lewis was a servant like Mary Warren, but I couldn't find anything about her life after the trials.

As for the accused, nineteen people died by hanging, several died in prison and one man was killed by being pressed to death by stones after refusing to enter a plea. The words Elizabeth Howe spoke in this chapter are the same ones she spoke at the trial to defend herself. Almost all of the people killed were 'objectionable' in some way - poor or old or Quakers. Elizabeth Proctor, the pregnant woman Kagome speaks with towards the end, survived because they wouldn't execute her while she was pregnant (although she was convicted of witchcraft). Her husband, John, died by hanging though. They were fine, upstanding citizens in all ways and dozens of neighbors signed a petition attesting to that fact, but it was ignored. To this day, no one knows what made those girls accuse their neighbors of witchcraft.

I should say that if you thought this chapter was at all dark or even hovering near the edge of dark, be warned of the next chapter. There's a lot of suffering on many levels. Don't say I didn't warn you.


	9. 1717: Tortuga

A/N: Hey, all. Just a reminder of the warnings from my note last chapter. There's some heavy swearing, violence and other disturbing events in this chapter - namely talk of rape and showing its aftereffects.

This was a difficult chapter for me to write, and I considered scrapping it completely several times. I ultimately decided that it was a vital turning point in the story, and it had to be done.

Beside You in Time

1717: Tortuga, Hispaniola

She sighed as her feet met dry land for the first time in three weeks. "Don't believe that I'm not grateful for getting off that ship of yours, but why exactly did we come to this place?"

Sesshoumaru crossed his arms over the tattered, wool coat he wore and surveyed the scene at the docks. His own men were rushing past him with nothing but a tip of their hats, hooting on their way to the whorehouses and taverns that lined the water. Although the sun had not even set, drunks had passed out at every doorstep, oblivious to the occasional dust-up between the pirates around them. He could hear guns being fired and could smell the rum seeping into every surface. Down the waterfront, three men were tipping a fourth into the water. This was anarchy at its most degraded, and even the Union Jack - the small show of official authority Sesshoumaru held - had been taken down on his orders long before they had pulled into port.

"You may stay on the ship, if you wish, but I believe one of the shape-shifters is on this island."

His companion shook her head. "I'll stay with you."

Someone clapped his hand down on Sesshoumaru's shoulder. "Me too," the other man said, grinning. "But I could kill for some food that hasn't been salted and in a barrel for weeks. Tell me you know a place to get some good food around here."

Sesshoumaru shrugged off the other man's touch. "I avoid this place, but the establishments away from the waterfront should not attract as much trouble," he said, started to walk into the city. The sun had been bright on the docks, but once they stepped into the alley, there was only shadowy gloom. The buildings were poorly constructed and straining towards each other over the narrow roads, as if they needed to lean on each other to remain standing. Smithies that crowded for space and customers at the waterside spewed black smoke from their bellows, and the shops full of illicit merchandise had blackened windows thanks to the soot.

"Have you considered the possibility that it's not a shape-shifter that you're sensing is here?"

He looked at Gisela, an eyebrow arched. "You mean Kagome?" He shook his head. "She is not here. She sailed back to Europe a long time ago." He paused as a man with a blond beard stumbled out of a dark alley and vomited next to the wall, splashing Brandt's shoes. "And if she did come back to the New World, she would never be here."

Brandt growled at his stained shoes, but was robbed of the chance to throw a punch when the blond man sunk down on his knees, passing out in his own filth. "I wish I was not here. Pigs wouldn't live like this," he scoffed.

They wandered for some time, keeping their eyes on the sun. Tortuga's drunken debauchery was an activity for the day, but when night fell, the alleys would be thick with cutthroats and thieves. "Here," Sesshoumaru said, pointing to a dingy, little tavern in the corner of a rare patch of open area and sunlight. They stepped across the threshold and were greeted by a sudden hush and suspicious stares.

"Good choice," muttered Brandt, moving to an open table near the cold fireplace.

The conversation slowly ignited again as they took their seats without a threatening move. "They know who you are," Gisela said, watching the crowd of pirates. They were still being watched.

"I doubt it," Sesshoumaru replied, leaning back as a mug of rum was placed in front of him. It was pointless to hope for anything else in this place. He would never drink rum again once he escaped from the Caribbean. "They are looking at you. Your dress alone could fetch a high price in a place like this."

The countess glanced down at the drab muslin she wore. "You told me to wear this."

"I told you to wear your plainest gown," he corrected. "That does not mean it would not still attract attention. You must remember that most women in this place are whores."

Brandt snorted into his drink.

Sesshoumaru sent him a scathing glance. "I know that our current location tends to dissuade the very idea," he said, "but have you found a suitable place for your next fortress?"

"I'm beginning to think the New World would be a poor place to build another home for the Alliance," Gisela replied. "The humans come over from Europe in droves, and they have been bringing humans from Africa to be their slaves as well. What could we possibly do here to stop the human threat when there are so many humans arriving each day?"

"There are depths of the southern continent that have not been explored yet," Sesshoumaru suggested.

"But they will be."

He frowned. "What is this to be? A fortress to mount an attack or a hiding place?" he asked. "I have been away from Triberg for many years, but the scraps I have learned through the few messages I receive have only seemed to indicate that you are losing. Almost seventy years ago, you were already considering concealing our presence from the humans completely."

"Triberg survives. So does Sweden." She tapped her long, curved nails against her glass. "The issue is not the strength of the fortress, but the strength of our people. We will have to evacuate Triberg , simply because none of them want to leave the ever-shrinking confines of the Black Forest. When the humans are coming in at you from all sides, it's hard for them not have fear. I do not want to stop fighting, but we must reevaluate how we do it."

"We'll have to hide soon enough," Brandt growled. "Even without the Order, we're being bred into oblivion."

"And what do you suggest?" drawled Sesshoumaru. "That we ask all the demons in the Alliance to impregnate their mates?"

"Well, it sounds a hell of a lot more fun than dying in a lost war," Brandt said, smiling suddenly. "We could set up an entire system. More females are left than males. Think about it."

"Inuyoukai take only one mate," Sesshoumaru said with a frown.

"And they take their time about it too, don't they?" the male fire demon countered.

The countess frowned at her cousin. "Stop it, Brandt."

"Just saying," he replied with a jerky shrug.

"However I feel about the future of this place," she continued, "I still would like to see the southern continent before I make any final decisions."

"I can only take you as far as Barbados," Sesshoumaru said. "The Spanish have Grenada and the Port of Spain. And I will not go near any place where the Caribs defend their land. They are not as well-armed as Europeans, but they're fierce warriors and dangerous to my ship and crew."

Gisela nodded. "That's fine. We'll find another ship to take us to the mainland. It was kind of you to take us this far."

"It is my duty."

"To the Alliance, of course," muttered Brandt. "And just the Alliance."

Sesshoumaru turned to growl a warning to the irksome fire demon when Gisela grabbed his arm. "Hawkins!" snapped a gravelly voice from behind him.

Sesshoumaru swiveled in his chair. "Roger Vane," he said, identifying the man with a glance at the matted, greasy beard that the pirate wore. An obnoxious copycat of Blackbeard, Vane took none of the pride in his appearance that the more infamous man did - from five feet away, he stunk of moldy bread and salted pork. Two large men flanked him. "How can I help my enemy?"

"You can give me the prize from that Spanish galleon you boarded last week," growled the pirate. "That was mine, and you knew it."

"I didn't see you or any other ship on the horizon," Sesshoumaru replied.

"I chased it for ten leagues!"

The taiyoukai arched his eyebrow. "If I could not see you, you were doing a poor job of it. My capture. My prize."

Vane gestured to their audience - the tavern had gone quiet again. "I'm sure every man here can agree that a man of my means is in more need of a few coins than an English privateer," he cried, stressing the last word. A rumble of agreement went through the building.

Sesshoumaru's hand curled into a fist as he slowly stood. This was a pirate's town, and although privateers were essentially pirates themselves, they worked with the blessing of a crowned head of Europe to capture a competing countries' ships. It made them heroes in friendly cities, but less than popular in lawless ones, where pirates had sudden bursts of patriotism for the countries' ships that a privateer would attack. The fact that privateers often acted as unofficial military and captured particularly troublesome pirate ships didn't endear them to Tortuga's residents either. All in all, Vane had just made him a marked man.

"You might have thirty guns on me on the sea, Hawkins," Vane continued, "but in Tortuga, you are just one man. Here, you are no captain."

Other men were rising from their seats. He knew that Gisela and Brandt were on their feet and that they would easily survive anything this drunken lot could throw at them, but they would also expose themselves as something more than human in doing so. His hand danced over the hilt of his knife.

"Roger Vane, I have never seen someone lie so much in my life."

The pirate and his thugs turned, and Sesshoumaru's eyes widened. "Kagome?" he asked, moving around Vane.

It was her. She wore a man's coat - quite similar to his own with its stiff, turned-up sleeves and braiding - but the full skirt and her soft features underneath the tricorne hat showed her true nature. But she was also pointing two flintlock pistols at Vane's head, her face marred by vicious anger. Her eyes didn't even flicker towards the taiyoukai. "I believe," she said, addressing the pirate, "that these fine men would be just as interested in listening to how you came by that fine, new ship you have in the harbor. Let the fool have his prize."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. 'Fool'?

"He was doing as honest of work as the rest of us can manage here," Kagome continued, drawing back the hammers of her pistols. "We live to a code here, Roger Vane, and you don't. Shall I tell them the specifics of how you got the _Catalina_ or will you leave?"

The men in the tavern were muttering to each other and sitting down again, staring at Vane with more distrust than before. The pirate held up his hands and began to circle the miko, heading towards the door. "Well, it turns out I am outnumbered, after all. Hawkins," he said, throwing a glance at the taiyoukai, "you have some luck, don't you? Be assured that I will be there when it runs out."

Sesshoumaru crossed his arms and maintained his stony silence.

"And Kate, it's always a pleasure," Vane said with a leering smile. "You are a feisty, little one."

The pirate lounged out with his two accomplices, and Kagome lowered her weapons, sagging against a table. Sesshoumaru stepped close as the conversation flared up around him once more. "Kagome, what are you doing here?" He took her by the shoulders and felt the way her body trembled. He pressed one hand to her forehead, which was warm, but not alarmingly so. Removing the pistols from her limp grasp, he eased the hammers back into place and them them on the table beside her. "Do you feel ill?"

"No," she murmured. "Yes. Sort of."

He tried to guide her into a chair. "Then sit."

She shook her head and pushed him away. "No, we have to leave. Vane's a coward but a poor loser, and he'll come back with more men." She looked up at him and frowned. "I'm assuming you have a ship."

"Yes, but we have been here for a very short time. I need more supplies than what they have loaded by now."

"Leave it," she growled, collecting her pistols and tucking them away. "Just more for him to burn, if he gets the chance."

Sesshoumaru glanced at his two companions. Brandt shrugged. "Well, it's not looking like I'm going to get a decent bite to eat anyway," he said.

Gisela was staring at Kagome with a small frown. "We should go," she murmured after a moment. "Now."

"Then we will," Sesshoumaru said, and Kagome was already half way out the door when the three youkai followed. "What are you doing here?" he asked, speeding up to catch up with her.

"Besides saving your ass?" she muttered, checking down the length of an alley before turning into it. "Working."

"Where?" He noticed the low-cut chemise and bodice that she wore underneath her worn, men's dress coat. He remembered the words he had so recently spoken to Gisela - most of the women on this island were whores, and he hadn't been exaggerating. "As what?"

She didn't look at him but drew the lapels of the coat over her chest. "Fuck you!" she snapped, making him blink in surprise. "I worked with a shipwright. It's dangerous work, and I don't get hurt easily. _Obviously_. The boss appreciated me. With my size, I could do some of the work more easily than the men, and I never complained. And before you think it, I decked a couple of guys and broke a few noses, so they kept their hands off of me. I'm no whore, Sesshoumaru!"

"I did not mean to imply..."

"Oh, whatever," she said. "I'm not stupid, and I won't be judged by you. It was a good job and a honest one. That's rare in Tortuga. When I felt your presence, I knew you'd get yourself in trouble though. And I was right, wasn't I? Since I still don't have enough money to get off this damned island, you're taking me to Kingston yourself. Think of it as a little favor in return for the one I just did for you."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "I was not going to Kingston. I am taking the countess and Brandt to Barbados."

Kagome stopped, nearly causing Brandt to tumble into her back. "Kingston," she ground out. "It's close, so don't give me any bullshit about how it's inconveniencing you. I don't really care!"

His eyes narrowed. "Very well. I will take you to Kingston, but only if you explain this ridiculous behavior of yours."

"Sesshoumaru," started Gisela.

He held up a hand to silence the countess and waited. The miko glared but nodded at last. "If you want to hear the whole story, that's just fine with me," she said. "Don't say that I didn't warn you though."

She stalked away again, letting the three youkai follow her through a winding path of alleys and back roads. She had obviously lived in Tortuga for a good amount of time - although they saw almost no one, the noise of the sinful city never left them, as if gunfights and brawls were taking place on the opposite side of the walls that surrounded them, which they probably were. It was only when they arrived back at the waterfront - directly in front of Sesshoumaru's ship - that they were thrust back into the midst of Tortuga's way of life.

"_The Arrow_," Kagome announced, sweeping a hand towards his ship and ignoring the drunks trying to cat-call for her and Gisela. "Ironic name."

"It was not my choice," he replied. "And if you knew this was my ship, why did you ask if I had one?"

"Making sure Vane wasn't actually just confused, Hawkins," she said.

Sesshoumaru frowned at the use of his alias - he had so often reminded her to do so in public in the past, but anything else but his own name sounded strange from her mouth now. "Vane and I have met before. He knows who I am."

She shrugged and moved through the crowd like a fish through water, leaving the demons to push their way to the anchored ship. "Sixty-four cannons," she said when they had caught up again. "I didn't think the Royal Navy particularly liked anyone else having these. Besides themselves, of course. These are the best ships on the seas."

"Better maneuverability than the larger ships-of-the-line and with the ability to destroy another well-armed ship, if necessary," he replied as Brandt started to order the men to finish up with the cargo and get back on the ship. Some of his crew were not back from their trips into the bars and whorehouses of Tortuga, but Sesshoumaru wrote them off without a thought. "I captured it from the Spanish. There had been a storm and, they lost a mast. After that, they lost the ship to me."

"No wonder you're famous. Not keeping a very low profile though, are you?"

He frowned. "If I am well-known, it is only in local circles."

"The entire Caribbean isn't exactly what I would call local. Still, if you're going to go the flashy route, I'm not the one to stop you. Perhaps you could have gone with one less canon and gotten a better coat though," she said, giving him a once-over. "You look like you've been fighting dust bunnies and moths, not the Spanish."

He glanced down at his dingy shirt and breeches. The boots were scuffed, and he knew that even his hair was not as pristine as usual. "The perils of the sea," he replied crisply. "Are you going to get on the ship or not?"

Kagome brushed past him and went up the ramp, pausing for a moment before she stepped onto the deck. "I'll wait in your cabin," she said, nodding towards the doors behind the wheel. "You get out of port, and we'll talk."

The fire demon appeared at his side almost immediately. "Something is wrong with that girl," Brandt muttered as they watched the miko walk away. "What happened when you left her?"

"Nothing. I explained my reasons, she understood, and she left. She was not entirely pleased, but it was amicable."

"Well, _something_ happened," said the fire demon, "because that was not the girl that I knew in Germany. She even _smells _different."

Sesshoumaru nodded, knowing it was true. It was the reason he had not been able to identify her before he actually saw her. She smelled of pitch - the resin used to waterproof ships - and rum. She smelled of Tortuga itself.

"Do we even know it's her?" Brandt asked. "Those shape-shifter friends of yours can imitate anyone's face. A scent is more difficult to mimic, wouldn't you say?"

"It is her. A shape-shifter would never..."

"Tell you to fuck off?" Brandt suggested, grinning. "Highlight of my day. I suppose you're right though. A shape-shifter wouldn't have changed her personality so much. But, of course, that means that's all Kagome, and you know what it takes to change a person's scent so drastically."

He did know. "I need to oversee our departure," he muttered. "She will talk with us once we are in open water. I'm sure you can find something helpful to do until I call for you again."

Brandt wandered away with a gruff agreement to put the subject aside, and Sesshoumaru began his work. The crew grumbled about not being able to spend a full day on the island, but most of them were accounted for, and they followed their captain's orders. The taiyoukai was methodical about casting off, despite the growing night - the hold was secured with their food and water, and the rigging was checked and rechecked. When he was satisfied, Sesshoumaru ordered the main sail to be unfurled and guided the ship out of the dark harbor of Tortuga.

He left the ship in his officers' hands when the lights of the sinful city had disappeared, and he ordered the day shift down to their quarters for some sleep before turning to his own cabin. Kagome had lit a lamp in his dining room and was studying his charts that were strewn across his table. "Don't spill that," he said, closing the door behind him and gesturing to the generous draft of brandy she had poured for herself.

"Uh huh," she muttered, looking at a map of the Carolinas. She had removed her coat and hat - they were slung over the back of the chair. Her hair fell over her shoulder, brushing the parchment she was bending to study.

"I thought you wanted to go to Kingston," he said, pulling out a smaller map of Jamaica.

"I'm not going to stay there forever," she replied with her eyes still on the charts.

Gisela emerged from Sesshoumaru's bedroom. "The bed's made." She glanced at the taiyoukai. "For Kagome. I don't think she should sleep anywhere near the crew. The officers' quarters are on the same deck. Yours is the only one isolated, and you don't have to sleep."

"Neither does she," he pointed out, earning himself a sharp look from the female demon. He frowned. "But I suppose that is acceptable," he amended slowly. The countess's words held no particular measure of kindness, but she sat down at the table and looked at the map with Kagome with more civility than he had ever seen the two women share.

"So you're not going back to Europe?" she asked the miko.

"I have to save up a bit for that," replied Kagome.

Sesshoumaru took his seat at the other end of the table. "I will give you the funds you need."

She shook her head. "No, thank you," she answered simply.

His frown deepened. "Did you ever make it to England?"

She went still, and her eyes lifted to look back at him. "Yes."

"Then why did you return?" he asked. He took a breath. "Did you deplete the resources I had put away for safekeeping in London?"

Kagome's brow wrinkled in annoyance as she dropped back into her seat. The brandy sloshed dangerously close to the lip of the glass. "What do you think I did? Went on a shopping spree? I left most of it. I didn't even touch it until I had to come back here, actually." Her tongue ran along the edge of her front teeth. "As for why I'm back, I think that's pretty plain. I couldn't help it. Trying to resist moving back towards each other works only so long, Sesshoumaru. You know that."

"But why Tortuga?" asked Gisela, leaning forward. "We never thought..."

"Is it 'we' now?" Kagome interrupted. Her tone was lazy, but she was grasping the glass tightly.

Sesshoumaru paused as the countess shifted in her chair. "No, it is not," he said. "Why did you come to Tortuga?"

"Well, I didn't exactly _choose_ to come here." She gave him a pointed look. "Isn't it _obvious_?"

"You were captured by a pirate," Gisela said flatly.

"Oh, I think we're up to a first name basis," Kagome muttered.

"Roger Vane," growled Sesshoumaru. "That is how you know him."

She gave a small, guarded shrug. "Part of it. It's how I know he doesn't follow any proper code. It's how I know he got that ship of his by cheating his men. That was the ship I was on from Spain to Havana. He had a ship, of course. I don't know if you ever saw it. It was falling to pieces. He'd promised the next ship to his first mate though. He'd always been eager to start his own little fleet like all the really powerful pirates. But when he saw that fine ship we were in, he decided he wanted it for himself. Of course, he killed the first mate and anyone else that protested. More money to share with less hands? That quieted the rest of them." She took a deep drink of the brandy. "Still, that sort of thing doesn't go over well with the other pirates. No one should cheat a man out of his wages. Apparently, pirates think that there should be _some_ honor among thieves."

"But Vane flies a red flag," Sesshoumaru said. "He doesn't take prisoners."

Her hard eyes flickered to his face. "No shit."

"Then he must have tried to kill you," he pressed, his jaw clenching. "Does he know about what you are?"

She snorted and shook her head. "He's not that bright. I was shot by one of his crew, and when I lived, he decided that my anger was amusing. No one exactly checked to see that the wound would have been fatal to a normal human. And let me tell you, surgery on your own gut to get out a lead bullet is bracing to say the least." Her hand pressed against her side for a moment. "I tried to fight," she added, her voice softening. "There were families on that ship, and he just slaughtered them all. Then he made me scrub the blood out of the wood. That _bastard_."

"He is not alone in barbaric acts."

"No, he's not," Kagome replied, getting up to refill her glass. "But he is, by the way, a member of the Order."

Gisela started, nearly tipping the chair over. "He's what?"

"Don't worry," she murmured from her place at the sideboard. "He couldn't spot a demon if it had three horns and breathed fire. Like I said, he's not that bright. He certainly doesn't know about Sesshoumaru. Or you, I'd imagine. But don't confuse stupidity with not being dangerous. He's just a little worker bee, but someone around here knows who's who. But I'd imagine you're already aware that the Order is present in the Caribbean."

"I hadn't realized its pervasiveness. I didn't know that they had pirate captains on their payroll."

Kagome gave out a laugh that did not hold any amusement. "Come on. They're _pirates_. They'd do in their own mothers for the right price."

Sesshoumaru frowned. "He will die for his association with the Order," he said, "but I want to know why he brought you to Tortuga and released you."

"_Released_ me? Do you really think that Tortuga is anything but a prison?" she asked.

"You could have bought passage to Haiti. It is not far."

Kagome's derisive grin did not mask the shudder that went through her frame. "Get on another boat with a load of pirates? Right. Even Vane knew I wouldn't do that. I would rather take a dip with the sharks. Not to say that that option wasn't occasionally tempting. The only thing that stopped me was the thought that perhaps my arm wouldn't grow back," she sneered.

Gisela sat down in her chair again, her hands splayed out on the table, as if to steady herself. "But why did he put you on Tortuga? Instead of keeping you with him, I mean?"

The miko gave a quick, half-hearted shrug. "I suppose I'm lucky," she said, the grin sliding away from her expression. "He's possessive, and he couldn't have me on the ship with all his men. He tried, but you know how determined men can be. He had to shoot one and keelhaul another before he decided to put me someplace safe. Safe for him."

A pit was forming in the taiyoukai's stomach as he looked at the troubled faces of the two women. "Kagome," he said through his gritted teeth, "is there another reason I should kill Vane? Something that has nothing to do with the Order?"

She leaned back against the sideboard, the glass of brandy dangling from her fingers. She glowered at a point over his head, but the color was draining from her face. "What he did to me," she replied slowly, "is nothing in comparison to what he's done to others."

The scent of hot anger rolled off of her, making him dizzy. "Others? They are nothing to me," he ground out. "He..." He stopped.

"Say it. Maybe it'll make you feel better," Kagome said, the flinty edge coming back into her voice as fast as it had disappeared. "It didn't help me any, but let's give it a try with you."

The door opened, and Brandt strolled in. "I was under the impression that you were going to tell me when the little powwow began," he said, raising an eyebrow at Sesshoumaru's back.

The taiyoukai didn't turn, but Gisela pointed towards the door. "Out, Brandt!" she said. "This isn't..."

"Why?" Kagome broke in. Her fierce gaze moved between the two fire youkai. "He'll know sooner or later. Let him stay! Why not?"

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru began, rising to his feet.

"What?" she growled. She shook her head. "I don't need you to protect me, Sesshoumaru. Not from him. Not from anyone."

"But he raped you!"

His words were quiet, but they sucked all the air out of the room, and Kagome's jaw clenched as she took a sharp, gasping breath - it was the only movement she made. But Brandt's swagger died away, and he moved forward on heavy feet. "Wait. Wait! Who... who touched the priestess?" he asked, his eyes widening as he looked to his cousin.

"Vane. That's why she's on Tortuga," Gisela whispered. She looked back at the miko with some effort. "Did he ever come back to see you?" she asked.

Kagome gave a curt shake of the head. "His base is usually in New Providence. I was too much trouble to bring there, and he's not around here very often."

"We're talking about that little weasel we just met?" Brandt growled. He looked to the miko. "But he's just a human! And you're immortal!"

"So?" Kagome snapped. Her face suddenly bloomed red, but the tears clouding her eyes didn't fall. "What does that matter?"

Brandt faltered. "Well... I mean, he couldn't... Well, he couldn't kill you..." He trailed off and lowered his eyes to the ground.

She was shaking. "Who cares if I'm immortal if I still have the strength of just a normal woman? How can not dying possibly help when all he had to do was hold me down? And it's no less terrifying when six men grab you..."

"Six?" Sesshoumaru interrupted her tirade. Wood splintered under his claws as his eyes began to glow.

"Well, I didn't go to Vane willingly!" Kagome thundered. The glass fell from her hand and shattered, spraying brandy and shards across the floor. "I tried to fight! You think that I would just let him take me? That I wouldn't fight like all hell? Do you think that I _ever_ gave that monster permission to touch me?"

"No," the taiyoukai said quickly. "I know. I..." The red glow in his eyes faded, and the remnants of his table crumbled out of his fist. "I apologize, Kagome. I should have trained you to fight properly."

"Yeah, that thought occurred to me once or twice," she snarled. "Miko powers aren't much good against a human, you know! I know you despise us as the bugs beneath your feet, but you could have remembered that they can still hurt _me_. For once, you could have thought of something other than yourself!"

He offered no protest as she continued to yell at him, her words cutting deeply despite the fact that they became increasingly unintelligible. He realized that he had made a fatal error in judgment, and yet it was not the strangeness of being incorrect that hit him so hard as it was the sharp bite of guilt. He had always thought himself prepared for this - from the moment they had parted in Salem, he had admitted that she could get injured. But, at its worst, he had imagined shape-shifters and her death, never a measly human and his perversion. He had never worried about training her to fight because he had protected her from the only ones that could kill her. Until now, he had never imagined something worse than Kagome dying.

Gisela was already on her feet when he noticed Kagome's tears. The countess guided the girl back to her seat, poured her another brandy and pulled a chair close to coax the miko to drink. Kagome's cries were quiet, as if she had become accustomed to hiding them in the dark.

Brandt paced in front of the door, rubbing at the back of his neck and muttering to himself. "This is bullshit," he said, coming to Sesshoumaru's side.

"What do you care? You don't even like her," replied the taiyoukai, his tone dull. He heard the childish words come out of his mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to care about what the fire demon thought of it.

"But I... I like this," he said, gesturing towards the sobbing woman, "even less. Vane deserves to die for this!"

"And he will, but by my hand alone."

"I told you I didn't need your protection," Kagome muttered into Gisela's handkerchief, her words still wet with tears. "I don't need your revenge either."

"You obviously do," Sesshoumaru said, his body regaining some of its strength. "I will train you. I will..."

"No, thank you," she murmured. "Just because you now know what happened doesn't mean anything has changed. I want to go to Kingston, and I want you to leave me there. I'll be safe. The Royal Navy is everywhere in that city."

"You'll be safe from Vane, but there are other humans in this world that would do you harm."

"No," Kagome asserted, her watering eyes locking onto his. "I haven't been idle, Sesshoumaru. I'm learning to defend myself just fine without you."

Gisela frowned, bending down to look into the miko's face. "You know that Sesshoumaru could teach you so much more than a bunch of brigands." She paused and folded her hands. "Brandt and I will be leaving the ship soon enough."

"That's not it," Kagome said.

She and Sesshoumaru continued to look at one another as her tears continued to fall. "Then why do you insist upon leaving?" he asked.

She worried the edge of the handkerchief in her hands. She seemed to have lost all of her air, but none of her anger, and her eyes pierced him. "I didn't just wish you had trained me," she murmured. "I so desperately wished for just you. I wanted you to save me. I wanted you to kill him and take me away and just leave them all to die! The number of times I fooled myself into thinking that you were close... I can't even count that high. I needed you to be there for me. I needed you to save me more than I have ever needed anyone to save me in my whole life!"

He looked at her flushed cheeks. "I didn't know," he replied.

"I know. And it's not fair of me to hate you for it, but you were late," she continued, her voice lowering. "You didn't save me, and now, I realize I don't want you to save me anymore. Taking me to Kingston is just a favor for an old acquaintance of yours. The rest I'll do on my own. I have to. I can't depend on you to come to my rescue." She sniffed again and wiped the handkerchief across her damp lashes.

The taiyoukai stood up slowly. "Very well," he said after a moment.

"Sesshoumaru!" Gisela said, her brows coming together.

"She has made her choice, and we long ago decided that I would not interfere in her choices," he said, still not looking away from the girl at the other end of the table. He knew that when he did turn away, Kagome's pale, angry face would not fade from his vision. "We will be in Kingston soon. The winds favor us. Until then, you will not be disturbed. These rooms are yours."

"Thank you," she murmured. "Maybe I'll actually get some rest."

"Have you not been sleeping?" Gisela asked.

Kagome frowned. "Would you?"

The countess bowed her head as the miko slipped out of her chair and into Sesshoumaru's room, shutting the door firmly behind her. Brandt slouched down in a chair as the lock turned. "I usually like being right," he muttered, "but this is... I mean, God, I feel like shit just because I'm male! I'm not even a damn human!"

Sesshoumaru softly grunted his agreement while Gisela rose from her seat to gather the shards of glass from the floor. "She's completely traumatized, Sesshoumaru. You aren't really going to let her off in Kingston, are you?"

"What do you suggest that I do?" he asked. "Follow her?"

"I hardly think she needs any man shadowing her steps," replied Gisela with a scowl. "You have several days before we get to Kingston though. Ask her to stay again. She could even come with us, if she'd prefer."

Brandt raised an eyebrow. "Now, wait a minute. I feel sorry for the girl, but I hardly think..."

"It's not really up to you," Gisela interrupted firmly.

"But you don't like the miko either! We all know that. The _girl_ knows that."

The female fire demon stood, tying the shards into the handkerchief Kagome had used. "We have never been friends or even very friendly, but that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve some compassion. Lord knows it's hard to come by around here," she muttered, glancing at the two males out of the corner of her eye.

"You suspected this long before she said a word," Sesshoumaru said.

Gisela sat down again. "I've seen that look before," she replied. "Frightened, angry and lost, all at once."

"Her sister," Brandt murmured.

"I didn't know you had a sibling."

The countess shook her head, schooling her features. "I don't. I haven't for some time anyway. My sister became reckless after she was attacked by her own intended mate, no less. She was fierce and unpredictable. She volunteered for dangerous assignments against the Order by herself, or she would slip away from her companions to take on the agents alone. Of course, it wasn't long before she died." She gave the taiyoukai a searching stare. "So you can see why I am somewhat concerned for the miko. I'm afraid I can't help it."

"I will ask again," agreed the dog demon, rubbing at his face. His concealment spell had long since slipped away, and his claws scratched lightly across his face. "But she will refuse."

"She's been trapped on that island for awhile," Gisela said. "Give her a chance to get used to being safe again."

"We'll be in Kingston in mere days. That isn't much time," muttered Sesshoumaru.

They all looked towards the bedroom door, stretching out their demonic senses. The smell of brandy was everywhere, but they could hear the quickness of Kagome's breath and her heart. They could hear the creak of the bed as she shifted around and her quiet sobs. She was not asleep.

"I think you need to try," the countess said.

* * *

He stood on the deck of his ship, watching the frenzy of activity at the mouth of the harbor as the galleon floated in from the open sea. The crew of the _HMS Orestes_ grappled with the adrift boat, trying to tow it into calmer waters. The Royal Marines had already boarded the larger, Spanish ship, but they hadn't lingered. No one was going to touch a thing on the _Catalina_.

His own ship was docked, and his crew stood with the crowd that was beginning to form on the waterfront. It was probably the most interesting thing that had happened in Kingston in some time, he reflected.

"Cap'n?"

Sesshoumaru turned. "Was she there?"

The crewman shook his head. "No, Cap'n. The barman said she left 'bout a month ago. She bought passage to..."

"It doesn't matter where she is now," Sesshoumaru cut in. "If she was not there, she was not there." He passed a couple coins to him for the trouble.

The _Catalina_ was being brought up to the docks, and he strolled down the ramp, pretending he couldn't smell the tangy scent of blood that was beginning to pervade the entire harbor. He slowed his pace, timing it so that the _Orestes_' captain - a black-haired man in his forties who went by the name of Smollett - caught sight of him at precisely the right moment. "Hawkins!"

Sesshoumaru inclined his head. "Captain. Good day."

"So you say," muttered Smollett. "I think we dragged Hell itself from the waters."

The dog demon blinked lazily at the Royal Navy officer. "Oh? Do you require assistance?"

"The crew can take care of the, ah, manual labor," the captain replied, "but yes, actually. Perhaps you could make sense of this. None of us can. I've heard that you've been around the natives, right?"

"Somewhat, yes," Sesshoumaru replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Maybe some Caribs did this," mused Smollett. "They're barbarians. You would know if they did, right?"

"Did what exactly?" asked the taiyoukai.

Smollett nodded towards the _Catalina_ - the Royal Marines in their red coats were lingering on the dock, looking up at the ship but not venturing up the ramp without orders. "Killed every pirate on this ship."

"Hm. It's a bit far for them to go. I would imagine they would attack a ship more like yours, for example, if they were to go through all that trouble."

Smollett frowned. "Well, we need to figure it out."

They walked down the dock, passing the crew of the _Orestes_ who stood shoulder to shoulder, whispering to one another like a bunch of trembling schoolboys instead of world-weary deckhands. Smollett watched them with a scowl - he was the type of officer that detested the civilian crews, instead of thanking his lucky stars that he didn't have to scrub the decks himself. "You," he said, pointing to a tall man on the end of the line, "get the undertaker. Make sure he brings a wagon. We're not carrying this scum to his doorstep."

The crewman scampered away as they mounted the ramp up to the main deck of the _Catalina_. "You can see the problem," Smollett said when the first body came into view.

Sesshoumaru's eyes passed over the corpses that littered the quarterdeck. Blood was seeping into the wood, while the smell of it burned in their nostrils. The dog demon crossed the deck, coming to stop by the body slumped at the base of the wheel. "Are you sure they're all dead?" he asked.

"No one was keen on staying on board when we found it drifting half a league away," Smollett replied, "but we're guessing so. We've glanced below deck, and it gets worse. They're all dead in their hammocks. Every single one, his throat cut."

"I see fewer pirates for you to worry about," Sesshoumaru said, kicking at the corpse at his feet. It flipped over onto its back to show the wide eyes of horror. He had seen some of his companions die, but he had not seen the killer coming up to his own back. "And you got a fine ship in the bargain."

"I don't know anyone who will touch this thing," said the officer. "Don't you see, Hawkins? These men died where they stood! Their weapons aren't drawn. Half of them were asleep below deck and didn't even move! What kind of man can go on sleeping when his neighbors' throats are getting cut?"

Sesshoumaru stepped around the congealing pools of blood. "Perhaps they were drunk."

"Maybe the ones down below, but these?" Smollett asked, gesturing around the quarterdeck. Bodies were tucked into corners and resting against cannons, as if they had just fallen asleep. "Don't get me wrong, Hawkins. I agree. Less pirates make less trouble for me, and this crew was especially vicious. We've found their victims' ships adrift just like this one was on more than one occasion. But those involved _fights_. This was murder while they slept, without anyone waking! I can't have some sick monster running around the Caribbean who is capable of this."

"Don't be ridiculous," Sesshoumaru said. "This is not the work of one man."

"I don't want to even think about the possibility that it was more than one man. I don't want to have to hunt down an entire crew of murderers," muttered Smollett.

"Hm. I'm not certain it's necessary to hunt down anyone. Where is the captain?"

The Naval officer frowned. "Probably dead in his bed, just like the others." He sighed. "I don't relish the idea of going down to his quarters, but I suppose we should look in on it."

It was a smaller ship than _The Arrow_ - the captain and officers slept on the same deck as the crew, albeit in tiny cabins of their own. Sesshoumaru and Smollett ducked down the stairs and to the gun deck. "It reeks," muttered the officer, turning his eyes away from the rows of bloodied hammocks. Arms and legs dangled limply from the white, canvas shrouds. The bobbing of the ship made the ropes creak and the hammocks sway in time with each other - it was just enough movement to give the impression that the men were dancing in their beds.

Smollett crossed behind him and opened the door to the officers' cabins. "God in heaven!" came his cry.

Sesshoumaru pushed past Smollett. "Interesting," he murmured. He circled the small table in the center of the room, surveying the scene. "There's gold here."

The captain frowned at the coins in the center of the table. "That's what you notice?" he said, regaining some semblance of control. "The gold? You really are a privateer, Hawkins."

The dog demon arched a brow. "I simply point it out because it makes it obvious that profit was not the objective here," he said. "After all, whoever did this clearly spent a good portion of time in this room and did not take the gold. Considering the condition of the body," he added, bending slightly to look at it from a different angle, "I would say it was something quite personal."

"It's that scoundrel, Roger Vane," Smollett said, coming to one end of the table. "So if you're right, there's an extremely long list of possibilities. He offended everyone personally."

Sesshoumaru paused by the body. "This is more than just an offense," he muttered. "Look at the way the body was tied down and stripped of its skin, piece by piece." He nudged the some slivers of epidermis that were scattered around the chair in neat little piles with one boot. "The body has been almost entirely flayed. Except... well, you can see for yourself."

Smollett approached the corpse slowly, leaning over to look where the dog demon was looking. "That's indecent," he said, shuddering.

"And yet, something that was often done to young boys to keep their voices not so long ago," the dog demon replied. "I would imagine Vane was castrated first, before his skin was peeled off in bits."

"Why do you say that?" the captain asked with a grimace.

"Because I would imagine that that was the killer's _point_," Sesshoumaru answered. "A perfect kill always has a point. And such an injury certainly makes a strong statement."

"I suppose so." Smollett moved towards where the severed head lay on the platter at the center of the table. Blood dribbled from its open mouth and the gaping holes where its eyes once rested. The lips were ashen where they were not red and formed a perfect, silent scream. "But what about this?"

Sesshoumaru studied the face. "Removal of the eyes wouldn't have been fatal, just like the castration. The same goes for the tongue." He looked up at the other man. "Perhaps he said something that he should not have said. It's the purpose of torture to maximize pain and minimize unconsciousness."

"Then why cut off the head?" the captain asked, leaning forward. "That would have been quick. It's almost like it's an... Well, it is an execution, isn't it?"

The dog demon smirked. "I see that you don't need my assistance."

"But something like this - something personal, if you're right - wouldn't be the work of the natives. They wouldn't have taken the time to do this to a pirate," Smollett muttered. "So who did kill these men?"

"I doubt you have to worry," Sesshoumaru said. "I'm certain that the killer is very far away by now, or he will be soon."

"So he can do this again somewhere else!"

"They were pirates, Smollett, and they would have been hanging from the gibbet anyway if you had caught them. I can almost assure you that no one will anger this killer the way that Vane must have angered him, and that's what matters, right? Your main concern is that this will not happen to a ship of the Royal Navy."

Smollett mulled over this for a moment. Sesshoumaru could see the weighing of possibilities in the officer's mind - the trouble to find someone clearly skilled at stealth against the chance that it would happen again to a ship with British allegiance. "Well, I suppose whoever did this did my job for me. And if you truly don't think we'll be seeing this again, I'd rather forget it. What you've said makes sense, Hawkins." He nodded to himself and walked to the door. "Let the undertaker worry about it now. I'm done with this mess."

Sesshoumaru waited until he heard Smollett ascending the stairs before taking a moment to look once more at his handiwork. He had killed many men and demons in his long life, but torture had always been the work of others. He had never been drawn to it before - as little as his heart felt, he had never felt the depraved desire to make his victims suffer. Usually, people either enjoyed their quick deaths by his hand, or they didn't. And although torturing Vane had held some grim enjoyment, it had not expelled the gnawing remorse from his stomach.

Still, Vane deserved it.

"I would have simply cut your throat for being a member of the Order," he muttered to the bloody head of the pirate. He could still hear the man's screams echoing off the walls of the small room. "But your mistake was touching her. I hope that was the last thought in your head before I cut it off."

He turned and went up the stairs to the main deck, where the crew of the _Orestes_ had begun their work of clearing away the corpses. "I must get back to my own ship," he said to the Naval officer.

"Thank you for the help," Smollett replied, shaking Sesshoumaru's hand. "They were just pirates, after all."

"Less than that," the taiyoukai said as they parted.

He made his way back to _The Arrow_, gave some orders to the few crew that remained on board and shut himself into his bedroom. It was small but sunny because of the windows that filled two of the walls, and he breathed in the rare silence of his ship. Dipping his hands into the ewer of water, he washed his forearms and face clean of the scent of the _Catalina_ before turning to the small, cedar window-seat that held his clothing. Over the past several months, pushing aside his belongings had become practiced, and he soon held the creased, translucent paper he had sought.

"Captain Jim Hawkins," it said on the envelope in English. She had taken the stationary from his desk, as well as the ink, but she had written the note on his bed - he sat down and touched one of the black spots of ink that she had left behind on his linens so many months ago. It was one of the few reminders that she had even been here. She had remained silent and in her room for the majority of her time on _The Arrow_ - the letter in his hands had more words in it than she had spoken to him in the entire voyage.

It was written in Japanese inside, and he read it carefully, although he could have seen the black pen strokes even if he'd closed his eyes.

"Sesshoumaru," it began. "Thank you for what you're going to do. It's what I would have done if I had had the skill, the opportunity and the courage. You have all of those things, and you believe your honor is at stake, after all. I'm going to pretend that you did it for me after all, despite what I said.

"I hope that when I see you next, I've forgiven you. Somehow, I think that I probably look forward to that day more than you do. Until then." She hadn't signed it.

He folded it and put it into its envelope again before tucking it into his breast pocket. Tetsusaiga and Tokijin were also retrieved from the bottom of the chest, as well as enough coins to allow some comfort. The rest of his possessions he left - he had already stowed his valuables from this life in a safe place, just as he always did when he had decided to move on.

People disappeared all the time in the Caribbean, and even if Smollett no longer cared about Vane's killer, the Order would. They would know it was a demon - it was possible that they could even finger him specifically as the murderer. The slaughter on the _Catalina_ would only let the Order affirm their beliefs that demons were monsters. He had to leave and appear on their grid someplace far from here so that he did not damage the Alliance's chances in this region. It was something he had known he would have to do from the moment that he had decided that Vane had to _suffer_, not just die. Sesshoumaru had spent far more time deciding on how Vane would be tortured than he had spent finding the pirate's ship.

Opening the window, Sesshoumaru began to summon the energy to transform into the orb of light to travel across the sea. His body pulled at him to go north, but he remembered Kagome looking at the map of the Carolinas, and he refused to look to the north. Not yet.

He stepped up onto the sill as his body faded away, and soon, an streak of white light flew through the air to the east.

* * *

A/N: Roger Vane is based on an amalgamation of real pirates. The primary inspiration, Charles Vane, was infamous for his cruelty and his willingness to break 'pirate code', taking his crew's share as well as his own. He was about as popular with his compatriots as my character, as you can imagine. Roger Vane's first name is a tribute to the ubiquitous Jolly Roger flag that pirates flew. Sesshoumaru's alias, Jim Hawkins, is from the protagonist of the famous Robert Louis Stevenson novel, "Treasure Island". Smollett is named after another main character (also a captain) in "Treasure Island".

As for the ship names, Sesshoumaru's ship, _The Arrow_ is pretty obvious. Vane kept the name of the ship he stole from the Spanish - _Catalina_, the Spanish form of "Katherine", which in turn is Kagome's alias, although everyone calls her "Kate". What a coincidence. (It's considered bad luck to rename a ship, actually, unless you do it with considerable pomp and ceremony.) The _HMS Orestes_ was a real ship (actually, several) in the British Royal Navy, but the first one wasn't built until 1781. Orestes is a Greek man of myth whose entire life was determined by vengeance.

Please review.


	10. 1780: New York City

A/N: This is officially one LONG chapter - twenty-four pages. I could have split it into two, but I figured you guys deserved it for being so patient. I've been doing silly things like getting writer's block and graduating from school. :P

Also, I've gotten my first piece of fan art for this fic! Yay! Go look at it here (minus the spaces): http :/yukimiya .deviantart. com/art/Kagome-in-Tortuga-118751061

Thank you, yukimiya! And thank you to everyone else for waiting so long. :D

Beside You in Time

1780: New York City, New York

She stood on the top of the stairs as the guests arrived. The children fidgeted beside her, their fingers grasping at the banister as they watched the men in their red coats and the ladies in their imported silk dresses float down the hallway towards the parlor. The hum of voices filled the house as the candlelight flickered against the dark wood of the walls.

Kagome felt the squeeze of her plain, muslin dress around her ribcage. "Jacob," she murmured, touching the little boy's shoulder. "A gentleman never leans." She saw his sister's snicker and added, "A lady never takes delight in the errors of others, Helena."

The girl set her jaw, but lowered her eyes to the floor. "Yes, Miss Hawkins," she said, her voice stiff with contempt. She was still angry at her governess.

Kagome studied Helena's bent head. Her dark curls fell to her waist and were tied back by a single, red ribbon. She hadn't been permitted to pile those curls on top of her head in the newest styles for the party - it had been the first time she had wanted to join in on the celebrations, but Major Oliver DeLancey had forbidden the mere idea of his twelve-year-old daughter mingling with his military cohorts before her official introduction into society. It had been left up to Kagome to relay the news, however. As usual. It hadn't gone over well with the young girl.

"Jacob, I was serious," the miko said as the boy continued to put his weight on the banister.

The eight-year-old stood straight, but pitched forward again when the front door opened to admit more guests. "Lena!" he whispered.

Helena turned a reproachful eye to her little brother. "What?"

"Major André is here! Look!"

Kagome and Helena both snapped their heads up to see the young officer appear the doorway, already attracting his customary gaggle of women. Helena sighed, and Kagome frowned. "Disgraceful," she muttered, looking between the young girl and the major. "Lena, do not pine after men like John André. They only care for the attention, not for the woman that gives it to them."

"Mama says that ignoring a handsome, rich man is like ignoring a shilling in the street," the girl replied.

"You have to stoop down to pick up even the most brilliant of shillings, Lena," Kagome said, putting a hand on each child's shoulder and pulling them back again.

Helena scowled. "Well, even Papa says that Major André works hard for General Clinton."

The older woman raised an eyebrow, not voicing her doubts about that particular interpretation of Major DeLancey's words. "Major André is thirty years old, Lena. You are twelve."

"Thirteen in a month," protested her young charge.

"Ah. Yes, you are most certainly entering your teenage years," sighed Kagome.

Mrs. DeLancey appeared at the bottom step in a silk gown dyed cornflower blue. "Miss Hawkins, take the children to bed," she murmured, wilting a bit with the effort of her request.

"But we haven't seen the General yet!" protested Helena.

"Well," wavered her mother, her hand floating up to her crown of wispy, blond hair. Her eyes were flickering towards the increasingly popular John André, deciding if entering a dispute with her children was worth the time she lost to join the cluster of women around the major.

"I'll take them to bed immediately, ma'am," Kagome said, drawing both children to her side with a small frown. "I wouldn't want them to disturb the party, and it is getting very late."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose you're right," Mrs. DeLancey said. She waved a white-gloved hand at them. "Goodnight, darlings."

"Goodnight, Mother," Jacob replied as Helena slipped into a deeper sulk. "Will you tell us everything the General says in the morning?"

Mrs. DeLancey's large, watery blue eyes flickered towards Kagome for a moment. "Well, I..." She paused and looked back at the guests filtering through to the parlor. "Well, once Miss Hawkins has you both tucked into bed, she'll join us downstairs. She'll tell you everything you want to know."

Kagome suppressed the urge to stare at her mistress and curtsied instead. "Thank you, ma'am. I will be down shortly," she replied, but her mistress had already fluttered back to her guests and, in particular, Major André.

Guiding the children down the dark hallway, Kagome opened the doors to the nursery and to the bedroom she shared with Helena. Millie had already lit the lamps for the children, and fires burned in the hearths, although it was an unusually warm and sticky September. "Will you tell us a story?" Jacob asked as Kagome searched for his nightgown in the bureau drawer of the nursery. At eight, he had long outgrown the need for a proper nursery, but there was always a possibility of more children, and the name stuck.

"Change for bed and wash your face, and we will discuss it," Kagome replied.

"Will you finish your story from this morning?" the eight-year-old asked, once the children were both ready for bed and sitting on the bench at the end of Jacob's crib. "About Julius Caesar?"

"That was a history lesson, Jacob," Kagome pointed out as she plaited Helena's hair so that it would not get matted during the night. "And you already know the ending. We discussed that when we read Shakespeare's play."

"Better than learning French," Helena muttered. "Dunno why we have to learn that. Papa says..."

"The king speaks French," Kagome interrupted, knowing very well what the major said to his children about the French when he thought she was not listening. "It is a fine language, and one that will come of great value when your brother goes to Eton in a few years. And do not say 'dunno'. That is not a proper word for a lady."

She paused and watched the children twitch. "Your mother has asked that I attend that party so that you may hear about General Clinton and all the great things that he will say tonight," she continued. "Tomorrow, we can continue our story of Julius Caesar and the man that he should not have trusted. Do you remember his name?"

"Brutus!" Jacob said.

Kagome nodded. "Very good. And soon, we will talk of Brutus and discover his evil plot." She tied off Helena's braid and stood. "Would you like that story tonight? Or two stories tomorrow about Julius Caesar _and_ General Clinton?"

Jacob struggled for a moment, but Helena shook her head immediately. "We'll have two stories tomorrow, Miss Hawkins," she replied, the bitterness ebbing away from her features. There was a reason that the major preferred his daughter - even at Jacob's age, Helena would not have hesitated to take advantage of what little the situation would give to her.

"Then, go to bed, and tomorrow will come that much sooner," Kagome said, tucking Jacob in and then leading Helena back into their room. Closing the door between the nursery and the small bedroom, she added, "And try not to stay up too late to listen to the party on the stair landing, Lena."

The girl blushed but managed to turn wide, innocent eyes up to her governess. "What do you mean, Miss Hawkins?"

"I'm not your nursemaid," Kagome said, turning away and opening a window for some circulation. "It is my responsibility to educate you, Lena, not to make sure that you have had the proper amount of sleep. However, if you fall asleep in lessons tomorrow, expect to do twice the number of lines as usual for your punishment. That will be the price of paying more attention to the silk dresses of the ladies than to your ancient history lesson."

Helena watched her from beneath her long, dark lashes. "But I can watch from the top of the stairs, as long as I'm not seen?"

"I'm only telling you what will happen if I find that you've spent your time spying instead of sleeping. What your father might do if he discovers you sneaking about, I don't know," Kagome replied.

"I want to go to the parties," Helena murmured, kneeling at the end of her bed.

"You are too old to be the darling child brought out for show," Kagome said, "and you are too young to join polite society. But it will happen sooner than you think."

"Papa will make me wait as long as possible," sighed the girl. "And he scares the young men away. I will never get married!"

"You're a bit young to worry about such things," Kagome replied.

Helena pouted. "I will be twenty-three and an old maid."

The governess raised an eyebrow. "Twenty-three? Is that the point where single women become old maids?"

"That's what Mama says," Helena muttered, picking at her quilt. She paused and looked up at Kagome. "How old are you, Miss Hawkins?"

"Either eternally young or the oldest old maid the world has ever seen," muttered Kagome, earning an odd look from Helena. She shook her head. "I have lived more than twenty-three years, Lena."

The girl chewed on her lower lip. "Are you afraid that you will never get a husband?"

Kagome approached the bed and turned back the covers, waiting until Helena climbed underneath before drawing them up to the girl's chin. "No," she answered at last.

"Why not?"

"Because a strong woman does not need a man to define her," she said. She received another bewildered stare and took pity. "Because, right now, I have more important things to worry about," Kagome amended. "Like you and your brother."

Helena finally gave a faint smile of understanding and leaned back against her pillow. "You _will_ tell us everything about the party, right?" She wasn't letting go.

"Yes, Lena." She went to the door. "It's time for me to join the party and for you to pretend that you are asleep until I've gone downstairs."

Helena sat up again. "You're not cross with me?"

Kagome shook her head. She knew that the young girl sought her approval, as Mrs. DeLancey's was worth so little, even to her children. "I'm not cross with anyone," she replied. "I don't have the energy for that anymore. Now, close your eyes, Lena. Then, I may tell your father that you were nestled into your bed when I left you."

As soon as the girl obeyed, the governess closed the door behind her and descended to the first floor. The guests were pressed in close to the doorway of the front parlor, craning their necks and whispering to one another. She was not the only one that could not hear the measured words of the man who was speaking in the velvet-encrusted parlor - it was probably General Clinton, Commander-in-Chief for North America. He always spoke too softly. But unlike the guests, Kagome did not have an interest in the speech. They were all the same anyway, and even the most senior British officer lost some of his shine when she knew all of his promises of victory would soon be broken.

A spatter of applause followed her as she turned and headed towards the back of the house. Millie, waiting under the stairs in the doorway to the kitchen, found her almost immediately. "I've been waiting ages, Miss," the maid said.

"You should have taken a rest," Kagome replied, her eyes falling to Millie's rounded front. "It's a wonder you haven't fainted yet."

"You get used to it," she muttered.

Kagome pressed her lips together to stop herself from once again protesting Millie's entire situation. The fact was that she was entirely _fortunate_ in her circumstances - a pregnant servant was usually dismissed without a kind word or good reference. But Millie had not always been a servant - she had been married to the milliner down the street. He had gone and died in the war at almost the same instant that she had discovered her pregnancy. It had been Kagome that engineered Millie's placement in the DeLancey home, but she had been unwitting of the restrictions that would be placed on the maid. She was safe from starvation but not shame.

"Come on. Let's move quickly," Kagome murmured, taking Millie's hand and leading her across the hall to the library. "I'm assuming you have it, of course," she added, as soon as the door was closed behind her again.

The maid took her eyes off the pair of children's desks that stood in the middle of the room - quills and bottles of ink were neatly lined up next to small piles of fresh, gray paper. Books lined the walls, stacked two and three deep on the shelves, and the room smelled of their leather bindings. This was Kagome's sphere of influence, where a chamber maid did not tread.

Millie could not read very well - the prayer book she had received as a wedding present had been memorized from front to back, giving the illusion of skill. The fact that Kagome could read every one of the books in the library, together with the governess's tenacity in gaining her a place in the house, had inspired the maid's fervent admiration. The governess was the only one that knew Millie's husband had died serving in the rebel militia, not in the loyalist regiment as everyone had been led to believe. "Yes, Miss," she said, producing a small, brass key from the pocket of her apron. "Are you sure you want to do this, Miss?"

"We're not much use if I don't," said Kagome, taking the key without hesitation. "And everyone is distracted at the moment."

"No one was in the garden a few minutes ago. But shouldn't you be upstairs with the children, Miss?" Millie asked as she followed the other woman to the door that led out onto the back porch.

"Mrs. DeLancey invited me to join the party so that I might tell the children all about it," murmured Kagome. Millie's eyebrow arched, and the governess nodded. "I know. A bit of a nuisance. I could have made some other excuse for coming down, but I suppose if I find something, I'll be able to pass it along tonight. Keep watch for me. Whistle or something."

Millie nodded, and Kagome slipped out onto the porch. With her full skirts hampering any attempt at stealth, she could only hope that a guest had not decided to take a nighttime stroll in the garden - she was lit from behind by the light coming from the major's study. She knew she would remain on display for the entire time she remained inside the room, as the major's desk stood right behind the French doors.

With a glance back to make sure the maid was waiting and watching, Kagome eased open one of the doors and entered Major DeLancey's study. She had only been in the large room once before, on the day she had been hired. The major had drilled her on arithmetic, history and French as he walked from corner to corner of the room, drawing attention to the luxurious details of his study, such as the velvet cushions and the marble fireplace. It was a monument to the man's pomposity.

The key Millie had given to her turned in the lock of the top, left drawer of his oak desk, and she pulled out the sheaf of papers. She bent over the desk, flipped through the papers with practiced speed and immediately saw that all of the risk might have been for nothing.

"Logs. Accounts. Schedules," she murmured to herself, rifling through the stack. Useful, but it wasn't what she had been looking for, and nothing worth what she was putting in jeopardy.

Just as the thought of being discovered and facing the entire New York officer corps crossed her mind, the door to the main hallway jiggled in its frame. "Ah, sorry, General. I lock it during parties," came Major DeLancey's voice.

Kagome stuffed the papers back into the desk, locking it again with a painful, hurried twist of her wrist. The key in the door turned just as she escaped to the porch once again. Millie was gesturing wildly from her place in the library doorway, but Kagome stopped, pressing herself against the brick wall next to the French doors.

"Miss!" whispered Millie, beckoning to the governess.

Kagome shook her head and pointed towards the tall windows between her and the library door. She would be seen by the occupants of the study - Major DeLancey and at least two other men - if she attempted to move. Instead, she crouched down and turned back towards the French doors, pressing her ear as close the crack between the door and the jamb as possible.

"This is becoming tiresome, André."

"But surely it's worth it, General?" Major DeLancey asked.

Kagome peeked around to see General Clinton pacing in front of the major's desk, as both DeLancey and André stood watching him. André seemed at ease, despite his commander's restlessness. The smirk he wore, together with his strong jaw and aquiline nose, spoke of how often he had been told he was charming and how many women had fallen under his spell for that reason. There was no reason he shouldn't have all the confidence in the world. Handsome, a womanizer and, as head of British intelligence, a spy to boot, he was the war's James Bond.

Beside him, Major DeLancey appeared plain, although he actually had stern good looks when not compared to André's boyish smile. He looked as if he was aware of this disparity - stern had become sulky while Clinton muttered to himself. DeLancey looked remarkably like his daughter at the moment.

"I am not so certain anymore," the General said at last. He thrust the paper he held at André. "Twenty-thousand pounds! As if this obnoxious rebellion isn't costing our king and country enough!"

André roused himself out of his calm and looked down at the message. "But if we manage it, it is worth it," he said, glancing at DeLancey. The smirk almost immediately reappeared after looking away again. "I can talk to him, General."

"Well, I certainly hope so. The arrogant bastard needs to have some sense knocked into him. He's giving us a single fort, not the colonies themselves."

"General," said DeLancey, "it's possible that with this fort, we will be able to cut off Washington from the rest of the colonies. Bisected, the rebellion will fail."

André shook his head. "I can talk to him," he said again.

"Talk to him all you wish, Major," replied Clinton. "I will never trust him."

"But," began André.

"Would you trust a traitor?" cut in the general. "Even one that has decided to side with you?"

DeLancey frowned down at his shoes. "Then you want to refuse the message? To deny his price?"

General Clinton turned his back on his two officers, leaning forward against the desk and showing Kagome the deep frown on his face. "No," he gritted out. "We must accept."

André and DeLancey shot each other a venomous glance. "What about Camden?" DeLancey prompted again, interrupting the other major before he could open his mouth. "Another success like Camden, and we will win this war."

"Camden," muttered Clinton, still keeping his back to the two other men. "No matter what I say out there, to those guests, Camden was an aberration, gentlemen. General Horatio Gates is more of a moron than this one," he said, turning back around and jabbing a finger towards the message again. "But not by much. Gates went toe-to-toe with our best men, including Tarleton's cavalry, with nothing. With untested militia that ran at the first shot! No sane man would ever attempt that again. Certainly not Washington. We know that he's already looking for a replacement for Gates. He would be a fool not to forcibly retire that buffoon.

"No, gentlemen," he continued, "we cannot afford to put aside this offer. We can't forget that this is not just a war against the rebels, but against the other thrones of Europe. I would write off the colonies if I could, but I will not turn down the chance to defeat France, especially on what is rightfully our own soil."

"Of course not. So, what do you want me to do?" asked André.

DeLancey stiffened his spine at his exclusion, but Clinton took no notice. He nodded at his younger major and said, "Go to the fort and agree to the sum. But no higher! And don't leave without a concrete plan of what will happen and when. I leave the details to you, but make certain the fort will change hands soon. The northern army will not be cut off from the middle colonies if we wait too long."

"Yes, General. I will ride immediately."

Clinton raised a hand, making André pause. "The bastard has us by the hairs of our chins, André. I know you don't find him as contemptible as I do, but try not to let him see that we're aware of the position we're in and how much power he has."

"Of course, General," André replied, looking serious for a moment.

"Arnold might have the key to our success, not just here, but in Europe as well. Twenty-thousand pounds is nothing in comparison, but I will give up the Almighty himself to avoid listening to his complaints about not getting enough recognition in this army or with the rebels! I don't give a damn about his name or how he will be remembered." He leaned back against the desk. "If you ask me, he will always be remembered as a traitor."

"Really, sir?" DeLancey asked, shifting his weight a bit. He was American-born and Eton-educated - the quintessential traitor in the eyes of the rebel faction.

Clinton nodded and didn't see his officer's discomfort, although André's smirk grew wider. "By some, certainly." He crossed his arms. "Some people will never let go of the ideals of the rebels, even if they do lose."

"Surely you mean _when_ the rebels lose, sir?"

The general studied DeLancey's face for a moment. "Of course." He straightened his back. "André, you have your orders. Until you return, DeLancey will assume your responsibilities. You're dismissed, gentlemen. Let's return to the party, shall we?"

Kagome waited until the three men had left the study and the key turned in the lock once again before she stood up again. Millie was crouched in the doorway of the library, with her knuckles turning white on the doorjamb, when she got back to the dark room. "What was it?" the maid whispered. "I couldn't hear."

"No one could, unless they were next to the door," replied Kagome softly. She padded across the library and crouched down, checking to make sure no shadows fell across the strip of light under the door back to the main hallway.

"Did you find what you needed?"

"No," replied the governess. She frowned. "I heard it."

Millie's eyes widened. "They just came in and said the traitor's name?" she whispered, struggling to keep her voice low.

"Clinton, of all people, slipped. He said it just once, but that was enough." The frown deepened, and she pressed an ear to the door. "We need to get back. They're going to sit down to dinner very soon. Get the key back into place, Millie." Kagome pressed the useless, brass key into the maid's hand and went out into the hallway before she had to speak the name of the traitor. It could not be said - it was almost too much to bear, especially on top of everything else.

She joined the small crowd of people slowly heading to the dining room and found her target immediately. "Mr. Townsend, you saved me a trip by coming tonight," she said, approaching a short, hawk-nosed man who seemed rather out of his element in his plain, gray clothes. He was one of the few men in the room who were not officers in the British Army, but he was a respected merchant and so was forgiven.

"Ah, Miss Hawkins. It's always a pleasure. What was the purpose of this trip?" he asked in a tone that was easy but with sharp eyes.

"Helena adored the hair ribbons you suggested last week. I wanted to thank you for your help," she replied.

"You're very welcome," replied Townsend. "And how are the children in your care doing in their studies?"

Kagome tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. "You would be very interested, Mr. Townsend. Tomorrow, we will be talking about the betrayal of Julius Caesar, for instance."

A tremor that only the governess noticed went through the man's body. "I see. And do the children know the betrayer? It is a heart-breaking story, after all."

"I'm afraid there are no hearts to be spared," Kagome replied. "They already know Brutus. Just tonight, as I put them to bed, they spoke his name."

They stood in the hallway together, lingering just outside of the dining room as the other guests found their places and had their glasses filled. They had a few more moments, but Townsend seemed reluctant. "Perhaps you can tell me about it later," he said, glancing at the number of people around them. They were attracting too much attention - a governess was above a servant but below a proper lady, and it was surprising to see Kagome's drab dress at the party. Adding the fact that she was a single woman and he was a unmarried male with a small fortune, the glances in their direction were becoming too frequent for either one's taste.

Kagome shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The children are so eager, you see. They know the story. They're so far ahead of me. For them, the betrayal of Brutus might as well have already happened."

"So soon?" Townsend asked.

"I'm afraid I waited too long. They've almost gone ahead without me, and Brutus may have made his deal already, but I hope to catch up." She eyed the gathering guests and decided that she could not linger any longer. "You know, the children prefer the histories and tragedies, but I prefer the comedies, actually. I believe wisdom comes from comedy just as well as tragedy. As Benedict said, 'Friendship is constant in all other things, save in the office and affairs of love.' Those are wise words to live by, don't you think?"

"True, Miss Hawkins, but I believe it was Claudio that said those words."

"Was it?" Kagome raised an eyebrow and gave Townsend a flat look. "It seems much more fitting to attribute that to Benedict instead, but I'm afraid remembering line and word was never my forte."

The merchant paled for only a moment before bowing. "It seems you are quite gifted in communication, Miss Hawkins. Thank you. Shall we sit down?" he asked, gesturing towards the dining room. "I'm quite hungry, and it seems that I will be leaving early to attend to some matters of great urgency."

Kagome took her place at the far end of the table and did not look at her fellow spy again during the meal. The secret had been passed on - soon, the rebels would know that General Benedict Arnold, commander of the fort at West Point, New York, planned to betray them all.

* * *

She didn't say anything when they arrived almost a month later. The sound of boots pounding down the length of the hallway was enough to tell her what had happened - she put aside the arithmetic book, told her two students how proud she was of them, and waited for the soldiers in front of her desk as the children looked on in shock. Mrs. DeLancey had sobbed, mostly wondering how having a spy as a governess would affect her own social standing. Major DeLancey had tried to scream at her, but it had died in his throat, and in the end, he watched in pale silence as they tied a rope around her wrists and took her out of the red brick house that had been her home for three years.

She knew why. It wasn't common knowledge yet, but Benedict Arnold's betrayal of the fort had been foiled. Major John André had been caught crossing rebel lines with detailed plans on how to take the fort and had been hanged as a spy. Arnold had fled and would soon be reviled by the rebels - his name would become synonymous with 'traitor', just as Clinton had predicted.

It wasn't until reached the jail several blocks away from the DeLancey's home that Kagome spoke. "Agent Three-Fifty-Five," she said when asked for her name.

"Is Katherine Hawkins your real name?" the sergeant growled again. He looked up at her. "And what are you? It looks like your father took one of those savages to his bed. You're not dark enough not to have some civilized blood in you."

"I am Agent Three-Fifty-Five," she said again, trying to tamp down the urge to deck the idiot.

The redcoat shook his head and scratched the numbers down in his ledger with his brown quill. "Put her in cell four," he told her guards.

The iron door was unlocked, and she was taken into the cell block, which smelled of human waste and stagnant water. But she hardly noticed the stench - it was the surprise of sensing a demon that overwhelmed her first. Kagome did not particularly relish the idea of being in the same building as the dark and swirling aura, and she was alarmed to see that she would be placed into the same cell as its source. Only then did she struggle. "No. Put me somewhere else!"

"Here or the _Jersey_," grunted one of her guards, wrapping his large hands around her upper arms as his partner unlocked the door.

"The _Jersey _any day," replied Kagome, pressing back and planting her feet. She could defend herself from a demon but not without showing exactly what she was to the other prisoners - somehow she imagined that being jailed as a spy would turn out far better than if she started frying creatures with magic.

Her comment startled the guards, but the one holding her shrugged it off and shoved her into the cell. "You'll get there soon enough," he said, locking the door again behind her. "The commander wants to speak with you first."

The cell had no light, save for a tiny window near the ceiling that pointed towards an alley, and three or four figures moved in the dark corners. They stilled when she came in, but one broke apart and advanced towards her - he was a mass of hair and sweat and rags, and he was snarling at her. "Money!" he shouted. "They'll let me out! Just one more coin!"

"Get away from me, demon!" she cried, holding up her hands and preparing to incinerate him.

"Whoa! Leave her alone!" A strong arm broke the air between them and pushed the hairy prisoner back to his corner. "She doesn't have any money for you!"

Kagome took a breath and looked at the newcomer to thank him, when she stopped. "But it's you, not him."

A white grin flashed at her in the darkness. "Ah. You do sense it. I should have known you weren't calling him a demon in the metaphorical sense." The smile widened. "Kagome."

She fell back, clutching at her chest. Not recognizing the face of this demon, there was only one conclusion - this was a shape-shifter. "I won't be so easy to kill as you think!" she cried.

The demon's hands went up, palms facing towards her. "Kagome! I'm not one of them," he protested. "I'm sorry. I forgot, but I was only joking a bit." He shrugged, his smile returning slowly. "I was just happy to see you," he added, suddenly switching to Japanese.

"Who..." She frowned and studied the sparkling, green eyes of the demon. "Shippo?"

The grin reappeared in full force. "Hi, Kagome."

The miko launched herself forward, wrapping her arms around the fox demon. "Shippo! I should have known!" She felt his return embrace and smiled against his chest. "You look so different. I'm sorry!"

"Don't be," he said, shaking his head as he pulled away. "I got stuck like this. When I was captured, I was in disguise. I thought it would be a bit too shocking to see me change back to my normal form in front of everyone. At least, the tail would be too much."

Kagome took him by the arm and angled him towards the small square of light coming in through the window. The blue jacket he wore was dirty and frayed, but recognizable - far more recognizable than the fox demon she had known since his childhood. He towered over her, and his normally red hair had turned black with his fox magic. Only the green eyes still belonged to the little boy she once knew. "French?" she asked, addressing the most surprising feature. "If you were really in disguise, you should have lost the uniform. The British aren't your friends, in case you hadn't heard."

Shippo smiled and switched to the language of his uniform. "I wasn't caught in the act, of course. I'm far too good for that. A fox demon is uniquely qualified for the life of a spy, don't you think?" He straightened his collar. "You didn't think that I would be fighting for the English, did you? You taught me well, Kagome. I know oppression when I see it."

"I'm glad," she replied, "but, Shippo, why aren't you in Japan?" She gave a start and pulled away sharply. "Did Sesshoumaru send you here? To watch over me?"

"From inside a jail cell?" he asked, going back to Japanese. His brow creased deeply. "No. I was about to ask why he wasn't with you."

Kagome shifted and turned her eyes down to the floor. "Oh. Well, I haven't seen him in more than sixty years."

"Sixty?" His green eyes widened. "I thought it physically hurt you to be apart for so long."

"I said I hadn't seen him, not that he hasn't been around. Every ten years or so, I sense him," she said. "He gets close enough to ease the discomfort. He hangs around for a few days, and then, he leaves again. But we haven't spoken. He also sends a number of his lackeys around to check up on me. _Those_ guys are annoying. I've almost fried one or two. I just thought he might have realized you would be much more welcome than the others."

"No, I guess not," he replied. "I was wondering where you were last time I saw him. I didn't have the opportunity to ask, but I guess he's been keeping his own watch on you."

"You saw Sesshoumaru?" she asked quickly. "When?"

Shippo shook his head. "It's been almost forty years for me, I think. I forget. It was right before I left Japan." His expression darkened. "What did he do to you?"

The way he asked the question set off alarms in Kagome's head. "He was Sesshoumaru being Sesshoumaru. Perhaps it was something that I should have expected all along," she answered slowly. "But now, I'm starting to wonder what he did to _you_, Shippo."

The fox demon moved back, out of the light. A heavy sigh filled the small cell. "Nothing," he murmured. "He saved my life, I guess."

"And that's a bad thing?"

"I'm still deciding that," he replied flatly.

"Shippo," she began.

"He exiled me," he cut in, his tone turning harsh. The aura that she had first felt - the dark and swirling anger that had scared her - flared up again. "I can never return to the Western Lands, on pain of death. And I was _strongly_ advised to stay out of Japan entirely. Sesshoumaru can't really control what his subjects do outside of his borders."

Kagome felt a sharp pain in her heart - blind rage against Sesshoumaru had been such an easy habit to fall into after Tortuga. Now, the once familiar ire flooded her chest, and she had to force it back down before she could speak. "What _happened_?"

He sighed again, and Kagome glanced around. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark cell and saw why the other end of the space had all of the other occupants - a lone cot was pushed up against the wall. "Let's sit," she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him over to the small corner of the cot that was bare. The other prisoners sat still and silent, as if Shippo's defense of Kagome had stunned them all. She knew that speaking in Japanese would only heighten their fear, but she could not bring herself to care, although they were probably fellow rebels.

"It's filthy," muttered Shippo, settling down beside her.

"I can't bring myself to care about that," Kagome replied, although she did not let her fingers touch the stained cot. Instead, she took his hand in her own.

"I feel like a child again, running to you about what Inuyasha has done."

Kagome let a small smile touch her lips. "You're not a child anymore, Shippo. You can tell an old friend about it, can't you? What went wrong?"

Shippo's smile looked cynical even in the low light. "Everything went right, actually," he murmured. "I trained with Suoh. Did you ever meet him?"

"Sesshoumaru never invited me to his castle," she replied.

"He's captain of the guard. Or he was, last I saw of him. He was a good teacher," the kitsune continued. "I did well, and I was promoted quickly. It's been what? Two hundred years since I saw you last? I suppose promotion wasn't that quick. But, in general, the lowest ranking guards walk the perimeter of the city, and as you advance, you move deeper into the city and towards Sesshoumaru's castle. The highest ranking officers guard specific people, and when I got to the castle, I was assigned to guard Rin. Everyone thought it would work out well, since we'd been friends as children. You remember."

Kagome nodded. "Of course. But you didn't get along with her?" She watched as Shippo worried at his lower lip and turned his face away. Her heart jumped into her throat. "Or you got along with her a little too well?" she asked, her voice rising.

"It wasn't like that!" he protested, his eyes flashing. "She loved me! And I loved her. Suoh never paid attention to her. She had no one."

"And so you stepped in?" She couldn't help but stare. "Shippo, I _never_ would encourage an affair, but in this case, it's her life! The reason she is still alive is because she's mated to Suoh. She shares his life. You can't tear that bond apart, no matter how hard you try."

"I know that," he growled, pulling his hand away from her. "Do you know how painful it was? I loved her, but I could never have her."

"Something tells me you weren't exiled for flirting, Shippo," Kagome muttered.

His cheeks flushed red. "No. I guess not."

"I'm surprised Suoh didn't kill you!" she said. "Or Sesshoumaru, for that matter. Loyalty is everything to him. _Rin_ is everything to him."

Shippo nodded. "I know. And as bad of a mate as Suoh was to Rin, he loved her too. At least, that's the only way I figure that she convinced him that Sesshoumaru would want to deal with me himself. I think he _expected_ Sesshoumaru to kill me when he got back, and I know that he didn't mind the idea of me rotting in the dungeons for a few decades or centuries."

The flutter of her heart was slowing down now. "But Sesshoumaru didn't kill you."

He ran a hand through his short hair. "It was the first time I had been brought out of the dungeon in about four years. Sesshoumaru spoke to me in front of the entire court. That's why I couldn't ask about you. Although, truthfully, I probably wouldn't have noticed if you were there or not. I was expecting to die at last." He took a breath and pushed it out of his lungs with some effort. "But instead, he said that I had brought shame to his house and the city guard. And then..."

"What?" prompted Kagome as Shippo trailed off.

"Then, he said that he owed a debt, and he would pay it in part by sparing my life. He pronounced my banishment, and I was taken to the border of his lands and left there." He looked at her. "So, perhaps I should thank you for saving my life, Kagome. I can't think of who else it could have been for. It wasn't for Inuyasha or Kikyo."

"Were they there?"

Shippo nodded. "They came as soon as they heard Sesshoumaru was back. I wasn't there when Inuyasha asked him to let me go." He paused and looked at her. "I wonder if he asked about you."

"They didn't go with you to the border?" she asked.

"No. They've been raising orphans together. Kikyo can't have kids, of course. I guess Inuyasha finally felt ready to do something about making her happier, but it doesn't let him travel around much." He suddenly groaned and put his head into his hands. "Are you angry?"

Kagome put an arm over his shoulders and rested her cheek against him. "Oh, Shippo." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I told you that you're not a child anymore. I can't scold you like you stole Inuyasha's ramen. Anyway, I'm surprised, but I'm not angry. As much trouble as it caused, I don't think anyone should judge you for loving someone. Do you _still_ love her?"

"I don't even know if she's still alive," murmured the kitsune. "But yes, I still love her. For years after I left, I looked for some way to undo the bond she has with Suoh. A way that wouldn't kill her, I mean, but I don't think it exists. I think she's stuck with him."

"Perhaps that's for the best."

He gave her a sharp glance out of the corner of his eye. "Weren't you listening? Suoh doesn't give her the time of day! Rin deserves more than that!"

"I was listening. I also heard you say that Rin convinced Suoh to spare your life, despite that fact that you had touched his mate in a way that he believed she allowed only him to do. Being as old as I am, I should know more about men, but it seems that a male demon would be perfectly within his rights to have killed you. He sacrificed something by not taking revenge, and it was for her. Not to mention, it's been forty years. It's entirely possible that Suoh has realized his errors and committed himself to making her happy again. Wasn't she happy when she first took him as her mate?"

"Yes, but it's just as likely that he's continued to ignore her. Or, worse, he could be punishing her every day for what we did!"

Kagome nodded. "That's possible. I'm not saying you're wrong, Shippo. I'm just saying that perhaps you and I shouldn't be deciding on what's best for Rin. She can make that decision on her own, and I'm sure that if she wants to be with you, she will find you again." She gave a small smile. "Rin might not be Sesshoumaru's daughter by blood, but she seems to have inherited his lack of fear. And if nothing else, you know that Sesshoumaru would never let anyone mistreat her. Even if you are angry with him, you have to admit that."

Shippo paused for a moment before nodding once. "I suppose." He gave another heavy sigh and looked at her. "But I still want to know what happened between you and Sesshoumaru that made him let me live. I'm ready for your sad story. I'm sick of talking about myself."

"Who said it was sad?"

He arched an eyebrow. "Are you saying it isn't? I wouldn't believe you."

Kagome rolled her eyes up to the ceiling, tipping her head back to examine it. "Yeah, okay. Well, how about I work into the depressing part? I don't know if you've guessed, but I'm here because I'm a spy like you." She shot him a grin. "You don't have to have fox magic to be able to pick a lock, you know. Governess of a prominent British officer's children is a very good place to be for information."

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, tugging at his black locks. "Although I'm worried about where this is going if getting caught as a spy by the British is the highlight of the time since I saw you last."

"Even if I'm thrown onto the _HMS Jersey_ with the thousands of other prisoners, I'll be fine. Execution and imprisonment lose their urgency when you're an immortal." She shrugged. "I came to the colonies because I was being drawn back east. I wandered up and down the Mississippi and through the west for almost fifty years. In the end, it seemed like I had to come back. I had to see people again. I had to rejoin society."

Shippo nodded. "I wandered around a lot after I left Japan. When I finally got to France, I decided that even though all my military training had led to the worst moment of my life, it had also led to some of the best moments. It hurt to use all my skills again, but I felt better at the same time."

"It breathed some life into me," she agreed.

"So what killed you for fifty years?" he asked.

"Similar story, actually." She paused. "Well, not really. Sex and betrayal pretty much sums it up though."

Shippo blinked. "You mean, you and Sesshoumaru?"

"Oh! No, not at all. Quite the opposite." Kagome gave him a quick smile. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, I wouldn't have been that surprised. You were together for so long. I know he says that he hates humans, but there was Rin. I'm sure it crossed his mind more than a few times."

"It's _Sesshoumaru_," the miko pointed out.

Shippo nodded. "I know. But he's still male, no matter how much he pretends he's above all that." He snorted and grinned at her. "It certainly occurred to Inuyasha. I don't think I ever mentioned you and Sesshoumaru together without him shuddering at the thought."

Kagome couldn't help but share the smile. "Well, at least Inuyasha hasn't forgotten me." She quickly sobered. "But it is still Sesshoumaru we're talking about. You would be surprised at how little two people can share, even if they spend a hundred years together. He really hasn't changed."

"He let me go," said the fox demon. "He didn't put a hole through Inuyasha's gut that I saw. And he did do one thing that had everyone talking. The rumor even reached me in the dungeons."

"What was that?" she asked, brushing off the front of her skirt.

"He ordered that all of the females in his city receive mandatory combat training, just like the males."

Kagome's hands froze mid-sweep. "He did what?"

"Yeah, I know. Surprising, huh? Even Rin started taking regular classes." He thought for a moment. "I think they were all required to learn how to handle a sword and hand-to-hand combat. He said it was for the safety of the city, which I heard didn't sit too well with Suoh. He thought the city guard was doing just find on its own, although I can't say I felt sorry for him."

The miko looked down at her lap. For sixty years, she had imagined what she would say to Sesshoumaru when he finally decided to speak to her again. She had imagined his apologies and his promises to amend for his actions a million times. A few times, despite the denial just a few minutes ago that anything could happen, Kagome had even imagined the way he might take her into his arms and press healing kisses to her brow. But _never_ had she even entertained the possibility that true guilt had run through him to the point that he would do anything sincere and away from her immediate observation.

She suddenly wanted to seek him out.

"Kagome?"

"Yeah?" She blinked and looked at the kitsune.

He gave her an uncertain smile. "I lost you for a second there. I was just asking if you knew why he issued that order."

"Sorry," she murmured. She shook her head. "I'm not going to presume that I know what's going on in Sesshoumaru's head."

Shippo nodded. "Okay. It just occurred to me that perhaps you being angry with him and this little stunt of his might be connected. You know, maybe he didn't protect you once. Maybe he realized you need to protect yourself."

Kagome gave him a sidelong glance. "That's just a bit freaky."

"He's not actually _that_ hard to figure out, once you know both sides." His look was sympathetic, although his knuckles were white as they tightened around the edge of the cot. "So, what did he do exactly?"

She shrugged. "You guessed it. He wasn't there when I needed him." She took a quick breath and smiled bright and false. "But I can protect myself now."

"You always could," Shippo replied. "What did you do? Practice your purification powers?"

"Actually, that part has only gotten weaker. It nearly got me killed when we last fought the shape-shifters." She studied her hands. "That's why he sent me away at first. He said that I would never win as long as I was slower than them. I figured that I could never be as fast as a demon, but that eventually, bullets will be."

"You know how to shoot?"

Kagome smiled. "I said that I wandered around for fifty years. I didn't say that I _wasted_ that time. I'm probably the best shot in the colonies," she said, lifting her chin a bit. "Are you surprised?"

"And impressed," admitted the fox demon. "Although, I never thought you would willingly do something so potentially violent."

"I had to do something," she said. "Like I said, my miko powers aren't getting any stronger."

He shook his head. "That's not true. I can tell you're just as powerful as you were against Naraku. Maybe more so. I can sense it."

"I tried to fry one of those shape-shifters, and he was barely singed. Sesshoumaru had to come and save my life."

Shippo gave a small shrug. "So? That just means they've gotten more powerful too. All demons do that as they get older. We don't become weak and frail like humans until very late. Look at Totosai. Or Myoga, for that matter. They're far older than Sesshoumaru, but they're probably just approaching the peak of their power. Remember when Inuyasha found Tetsusaiga? You told me that you were all _inside_ his father's skeleton. He wasn't always that enormous, I'm sure, even in his true form." He took one of her hands. "They just got stronger faster than you did. Were you practicing?"

"No, I suppose not as much as I should have." She frowned. "But, if you're right, why didn't Sesshoumaru realize that?"

"Well, it wasn't about him, so why would he notice?" Shippo replied with a scowl.

Kagome wanted to scold him about his rudeness, but the door at the end of the hall banged open first. Shippo stood, his hand slipping away from hers, and the other prisoners shuffled around in the far corner. "We didn't exactly discuss an escape plan," the fox demon murmured.

"Maybe we should have covered that first," she replied. "But you can get out of here if you wanted to, right?"

"Of course. But it would kind of give up what I really am."

Kagome glanced at the other prisoners. "They won't be believed. I wouldn't worry about that."

The door their cell opened, and a British Army captain stood just over the threshold. Dark-haired and with a low brow, he beckoned to her. "I have some questions for you, girl."

"I won't answer any of them," she replied. "You've already decided I'm a traitor. Leave me alone."

"Ah, that incident with Arnold, you mean?" asked the captain. He crossed his hands behind his back and smiled. "Actually, some ninny of a pregnant girl admitted to passing along that information early this morning. You're a bit too late for that confession."

"Millie?" Kagome's eyes went wide. "Let her go! She's done nothing! It was all me!"

The guards standing at either side of the captain lifted their rifles, pointing them at her heart as she advanced two steps. The British officer continued to smile as Shippo grasped her elbow. "The girl has confessed. She was seen taking the key to her master's desk drawer, you see, and is already on her way to the _Jersey_. The other inmates will make her comfortable, I'm sure." He chuckled. "No, my girl, I have different matters to attend to with you. We've been watching you for some time, you see."

Kagome frowned. Major DeLancey was part of British intelligence, but he was no actor - he had not faked the look of abject horror on his face when she had been arrested earlier that day. She doubted that the captain spoke of anything in official channels. "What exactly do you want to discuss?"

"Do you have more than two secrets?" the captain asked in mock surprise. "Other than spying, what else is there besides your remarkable _longevity_?" His glance moved smoothly over to Shippo. "Considering your present company, I think that you know precisely what I mean to discuss, Miss Hawkins."

"The Order," breathed Shippo.

"Yes, I gathered that," she murmured in return. It was the first time Kagome had ever heard him speak of them, and she wondered, for a brief moment, if the Order had reached Japan too.

"Enough of that," said the captain, gesturing between the two of them. "Come with me, girl."

"I think it's time to go, Shippo," she said in Japanese.

"I agree," the fox replied in kind.

The captain stepped over the threshold of the cell. "Cease your tongues! Guards, remove the girl!"

"Fox fire!" cried Shippo, opening his palm towards the door. Instead of the small globes of fire that he had produced as a child, a wall of blue flame erupted in the middle of the room and swept towards the captain and the guards. One of them screamed and dropped his rifle - the report of the gunshot squealed in the small space as the bullet ricocheted off the stone walls.

Shippo turned and blasted another, more concentrated burst of fire towards the small window of the cell, shattering half of the wall. Kagome had to steel herself to not cower away from the heat produced by the flame. The other prisoners wailed and took cover in the small pocket of safe space between the two infernos. "Come on, Kagome!" the kitsune cried, putting an arm around her waist and bounding out of the cell and into the alley outside.

The captain had not been a complete fool. "Assassins!" Kagome cried, seeing men at each end of the alley. Smoke was rising and obscuring their forms, but she recognized the agile shadows that Sesshoumaru had so often spoke about in Germany. "Go up!"

The small alley filled with the sounds of rifles firing as Shippo pressed against the ground and drew her up into the air with him. Something stung her thigh as they landed on the roof of the jail, but Shippo's training did not fail him - his nose twitched at the smell of blood, but he did not stop. He leapt from roof to roof, scooping Kagome up into his arms. "Shippo, we have to stop," she finally told him, clutching around his neck to keep hold during his quick progress. He had surpassed Inuyasha's speed through the trees of Japan. "The blood, Shippo! It's dripping everywhere, and it'll lead them right to us."

The kitsune nodded and dropped down between two buildings, into another alley. "I'm so sorry, Kagome," he said, staring down at her blood-soaked skirts. It had turned chilly in the month since the party, but Kagome's brow was beaded with sweat.

"Don't be. I'd rather it happen to me than to you," she said, leaning against him with her good leg. "I just need to get the bullet out and bandage it. If I leave it, the wound will heal too fast and seal it into my leg."

He led her to an empty crate that had been tossed away, and she sat down on one hip, drawing up her skirts with her free hand. Blood was everywhere, and Kagome guessed that it had nicked an artery. "It doesn't hurt very much," she told Shippo as he paled. She tore away strips of her petticoat, pausing to pat him on the shoulder. "I thought you were supposed to be big and strong about stuff like blood and guts."

"It's not the blood. It's you, Kagome. You got shot under my protection!"

"So low on the 'bad crap that's happened to me' list, you wouldn't even imagine," Kagome murmured. "Here, I'll dig out the bullet. You tie the bandages."

They worked quickly. The small lead ball was quickly located - after going through her massive skirts, the bullet hadn't gone into her leg very deeply. Shippo daubed away the excess blood and wrapped her leg in a thick layer of semi-white, semi-clean bits of cloth. "You'll need new clothes," he said.

"We need to move, is what we need to do," said the miko. The sweat was drying. She hadn't been entirely truthful with Shippo - a bullet was a bullet, and this one had hurt like hell. But it was temporary, and she wouldn't cry over it.

"I crossed half of the city," Shippo replied. "Take a break, and we'll leave when you're feeling alright again. How long do your wounds take to heal?"

She shrugged. "Depends. This one won't take long. It wasn't that serious." She leaned back against the wall, and her eyes fluttered closed. "I have to say that I feel a bit dizzy though. Must be the blood loss. I think that takes awhile longer for me to do, but I'm not sure. I've never been shot in the leg before."

"Years with Sesshoumaru, and you never get shot until you spend ten minutes with me," he muttered.

"_Stop it_," she insisted. "Take your own advice and relax."

Shippo took a breath and stood up straight again. His outline shimmered, and in a moment, his hair was once again flame red and long. The fox-like, pointed features of his face had reasserted themselves, and three, ruddy colored tails began to swish around his ankles. "I'll hide the tails before we leave again," he said, tying back his hair.

Kagome smiled. "You have three of them."

"I'm just over three centuries old. It's what happens to kitsune until we reach nine."

"I know, but it's been so long. Last time I saw you, you still had just one." She studied his form and the way he had filled out - he looked sturdy and broad, more like Inuyasha than Sesshoumaru. "You're grown up," she added, her lips pulling down into a sad frown. "And I missed it all."

Shippo knelt down beside her. "Kagome, I'll stay with you from now on." He gave a half-hearted smile. "I don't have anywhere else to go."

She plucked at his coat sleeve. "You have the army."

"I'm not letting you be alone again, Kagome." He caught her look and amended, "I mean, I would rather not let you be alone again. But it's up to you."

"I'm really fine on my own, Shippo. You don't have to take care of me."

The fox demon bent his head over her lap. "You're the closest thing I've ever had to a mother, Kagome. I want to protect you. You're all that I have left to protect," he said. He looked up at her. "The fact that Sesshoumaru left you and that you got hurt because of him..."

"Stop," she interrupted. "I've blamed him enough. Don't pick up where I left off with that."

"But you said..."

"He did hurt me by leaving and by not giving me any means with which to protect myself. But I didn't exactly do anything to help matters. I should have learned the things that I blamed him for not teaching to me of his own volition. I should have demanded that he teach me what I needed to know, and if he didn't do it, I should have learned from someone else. Yes, he's at fault. Sometimes, I still feel so angry about it that I can hardly think about it. But I have to accept that it's my fault too. More than that, it's someone else's fault that I was hurt. That man is dead, because Sesshoumaru took revenge for me." She sighed and rubbed at her eyes, which were wet with gathering tears. "Don't think that you have to take care of me, Shippo, because I chose not to have Sesshoumaru's protection. He wanted me to come with him again, and I refused that second chance."

The fox demon leaned back on his heels. "He felt guilty."

"I'd hope it wasn't just guilt. I hope he understands what went wrong," she replied.

"You seemed so angry with him in the cell."

"Because I thought he had hurt _you_," Kagome said. She shrugged. "And it's still a habit I'm trying to break. Let me say that it took me a long time to realize that holding onto that anger wasn't doing me any good."

He sighed. "You still seem sad."

"I am," she murmured. She leaned forward, straightening out the leg that had been wounded, and embraced him. "But now, I have you. That makes me happier."

Shippo lifted her into his arms without breaking the hug, letting her settle against his shoulder. "We need to go," he said. "You need new clothes, and then, we can leave the city."

"Wait." Kagome glanced up at him. "We have to do one thing before we leave."

"Is it important? I can change what I look like, but you can't. Everyone will be looking for you, Kagome."

"Trust me. It's something we need to do."

* * *

"This is insanity," he grumped, pulling back on the oars. "I'm sure she's fine."

"On the _Jersey_? Yeah, I'm sure that's the perfect place to keep a pregnant woman," Kagome whispered, keeping her eyes on the dark silhouettes of the prison ships in the middle of Wallabout Bay. Only a waning crescent hung in the sky to show them the way. "There aren't many lights, but I think that one is it." She pointed to the largest ship to the port side.

"Probably. It's the one that stinks the most," he muttered. He adjusted the path of the rowboat with a flip of the wrist and then continued. "How's your leg?" he asked, watching as she rubbed at her thigh.

She shook her head. "Oh, fine. It's just a little stiff. It'll be gone by tomorrow or the next day. I'm more worried about this," she said, lifting one hand to the close cropped hair on her head. It was a hack job, as if Freddie Krueger had gone straight and decided to become a hairdresser for a living. She had expected one, clean cut, but instead, the woman had chopped and snipped, getting the longest pieces of her locks as possible.

"You said it would grow back very fast."

"I said I _think_ it will grow fast."

"Well, it looks..." He stopped and frowned. "It'll grow."

"Thanks," she muttered. She put her hands back into her lap and smoothed the skirt of the red dress that she had received in exchange for her hair. Not a lot of people had money anymore - they either gave it to the British in taxes or gave it to the colonists in donations. She had to take what she could get, but after years in the matronly dresses of a governess, she felt naked in the silk confection. It was poorly made - nothing like the fine gowns that the officers' wives wore to the last party she had attended - and she suspected that the wig-maker that had bartered with her had taken the dress from a prostitute. Black hair bought very little - it required the most powder to turn to the fashionable shade of gray - but at least he had thrown in a decent shawl.

A wild scream tore across the surface of the bay. Like wolves, other prisoners joined in with the first one, screaming their suffering to the sky. Shippo paused in his rowing and the water lapped against the sides of the boat. Lanterns moved across the deck of the ship with the offending prisoner, and guards shouted to each other in rough, Cockney accents. Soon, the screaming stopped, and the bay fell quiet again.

"I think we should hurry," Kagome said.

Shippo picked up the oars again and made his strokes longer so that they were shooting through the water. "You'll stay here. I'll get Millie."

"You don't know what she looks like."

"How many pregnant woman with your scent on them are on this ship?" he asked flatly.

Kagome frowned. "I hope just the one," she said with a sigh. "Maybe I shouldn't have come back. It's my fault that she's in this awful place."

"She took the blame, Kagome."

"For something I did!" she hissed.

Shippo scowled. "She probably thought she was protecting you. I would do the same."

"Shippo, there's the distinct difference that you're not pregnant. And she's human. She's suffering in the place of someone that wouldn't suffer at all," the miko replied with a firm shake of her head. "Maybe I shouldn't come with you after this, Shippo. I tend to attract miserable situations, and I don't want that to happen to you. And France, of all places and times, is probably not the best option right now. That's just _asking_ for it."

The fox demon rolled his eyes. "You're not hiding again!" he whispered.

"I'm remembering why I hid in the first place!"

He looked like he wanted to say more, but they were drawing close to the mammoth that was the _Jersey_. Shippo had been right - the ship reeked of mildew and rotting meat. Those were among the more pleasant of aromas that Kagome caught before she held her sleeve over her nose. Although the scents must have been overwhelming to the kitsune, he calmly put the oars into the boat and stood up. "Stay here," he whispered, raising one index finger as a gentle warning.

Kagome nodded and watched as the fox demon jumped up to one of the hatches that had once covered the muzzles of the valuable cannons from the elements of the sea. Now they were nailed shut to prevent escape, with the added benefit of denying the prisoners inside any light or fresh air. Shippo ripped it neatly from its hinges with a quiet groan of the wood and nails.

The rowboat bobbed next to the frigate for many minutes after Shippo disappeared into the hold. Kagome had expected another swell of cries and a rush towards the apparent freedom that Shippo's vandalism had created, but everything remained quiet. She had heard about what the prison ships did to their prisoners - strong men went in, and skeletons with soulless, hollow eyes came out. It was the worst form of transformation to starve at the hands of vicious guards who resented the need to keep the prisoners alive. She knew that the British did not kill them for fear of giving the rebels a new basis for their complaints, but it was hard to imagine that the cruelty - or worse, the indifference - that created these floating hells was any better. She hoped that a day had not scarred Millie too deeply.

She wondered what Sesshoumaru would say if he had been with her. She wondered if he would have even let her come this far, with this amount of risk to their own lives with the Order wandering about, to save one girl.

He would, she decided. Two days ago, that question would have hovered in her mind without a clear answer, but now, she knew that the taiyoukai felt something akin to guilt over what had happened to her. Another young woman alone on a ship full of starving men - starving for both food and company - would strike him as too familiar. He wouldn't have protested. Only when her fingers itched to free the other prisoners, as they did now, would he have spoken and reminded her that they could not change her history.

In the deathly quiet, she could hear an unfamiliar man's deep tones and the sound of a woman's soft cry from the top deck. Footsteps skittered across the length of the ship, and more voices joined in as Millie's cries grew louder. Shippo's lighter voice, sounding more distressed than usual, rode right over the first man's speech. "Now, listen!" was all that Kagome could hear him say.

She craned her neck upwards in search of the kitsune's familiar face, but she didn't dare call out for him. Just as she was about to curse him for not taking her along, he was launching over the side of the ship, carrying Millie in his arms. "She's in labor!" he murmured, before his feet even touched the boat again.

Millie groaned, her arm tightening around her middle as she curled up like a pill bug. Shippo laid her down carefully at Kagome's feet and then took the oars. "I had to give the bastards everything I had to get her out. She couldn't get through the hatch. We had to go above deck," he muttered, wheeling the rowboat around.

Kagome was already ripping up the petticoats that she had just bought with her long tresses. "Lean back against Shippo's legs," she instructed, turning the servant so that she was resting lengthwise along the boat's bottom.

"Miss, I don't know..." Millie broke off and began to cry.

"How long has this been going on?" Kagome asked, looking between her and the kitsune.

"Since yesterday, she said," Shippo murmured. "As soon as she got down into that disgusting place, I would imagine."

Kagome nodded and laid a cleanish bit of petticoat at the bottom of the rowboat. She dipped her hands into the bay. "I don't suppose you have any liquor on you so that I can clean my hands."

"That was part of the ransom price," he muttered. He stopped rowing for a minute and shed his coat. "It's not completely clean..."

"Good enough," she replied, shucking off her own shawl. "Get to shore as soon as possible. We can't move her onto the beach, but I'd prefer being still." She lifted Millie's skirts and saw that she had taken off her undergarments already - probably when her water had broken.

"Have you ever done this before?" Shippo asked, frowning as his muscles strained.

Kagome nodded. "A number of times, actually. I wasn't in total seclusion out west. I stayed with several native tribes, and they were willing to teach me what they knew." She looked at him. "I'm guessing you _haven't_ done this."

"Never a part of my job," he muttered.

She was quickly learning to recognize the look he had in his eyes as the look he had when he thought of Rin. Turning her eyes away to leave him to his thoughts, she reassured Millie, "Everything's going fine. You're safe now, and I can handle this. _You_ can handle this."

"I'm not nine months gone yet," Millie fretted, tears leaking out of her squinted eyes. "I was so afraid, Miss! They said they'd hang me, and I had to tell them who it was that I helped. I'm so sorry, Miss!"

"It's fine. We're all alright now," she soothed, rubbing at the maid's ankles. "That's not what you have to be thinking about now, anyway."

"How soon is this going to happen?" Shippo asked. His shirt was beginning to stick to him as his muscles strained.

Millie let out a pained cry, and Kagome looked up at him. "Very soon."

Shippo got them to shore before the baby began to crown, and it all happened so fast after that. Kagome handled the small newborn with practiced care - it was a boy, and Millie cried when she saw the likeness of her deceased husband. He was called Frederick after his father, and soon, he was resting on his mother's stomach as they both fell asleep in the cradle of the boat. Kagome sat on the beach with Shippo, both of them drenched in sweat despite the cool air.

"One day with you," the fox demon began. He smiled. "Well, I guess I'm forgetting how _lively_ those early days were."

"Not this lively." She leaned forward, resting her cheek against her knees. "I need another dress."

"That would require money. I gave the little that I saved from the guards at the jail to the guards on the _Jersey_."

She nodded. "Looks like I'm going to work again."

"Maybe this time you should stay out of the spy business," he replied.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Maybe that was a bit much."

"Are you still sorry you came back then? To society and civilization?" Shippo asked. "You did stop Arnold."

Kagome smiled sleepily at him. "That's the least of what I did recently," she replied, glancing at Millie and the baby. She paused for a moment and let Shippo give her a small nod of approval. "So what do we do next?"

"We?" he echoed.

"Yeah. All of us."

Shippo gestured towards the boat. "Is she coming with us?"

"She has a baby, and she just got fired from her job because of me," Kagome murmured. "She'll be coming with us as long as she needs us. She once mentioned that she had some family in Philadelphia. She couldn't get there before, but perhaps it's time that we tried."

The fox demon nodded. "And if we manage to get her somewhere safe and earn some money for ourselves, what do we do then? You said you didn't want to go back to France."

"I said that it wasn't the best time to go there," she corrected. "And yet, I feel like that's where I need to go."

"So Sesshoumaru's there?"

"I can't know that until I'm closer," Kagome said.

Shippo sighed. "But you're hoping he is."

She smiled softly and gave him a half-hearted shrug. "I can't know that until I'm closer," she said again.

* * *

A/N: So you *know* there are a lot of historical notes for this one. :)

The only completely fictional (named) characters are Mrs. DeLancey and the children. Major Oliver DeLancey was really in charge of intelligence in New York - he was General Clinton's predecessor's aide as well. I couldn't find any indication that he had ever gotten married, so I created a family for him. He survived the war and went on to become a general and a member of Parliament.

Major John André was DeLancey's equivalent in rank and importance but is more famous for the huge debacle of Benedict Arnold and his betrayal. Arnold was feeling unappreciated in the American army - he kept getting passed over for promotions, and he resented the fact that people like Horatio Gates (who royally screwed up the Battle of Camden, giving the British one of their biggest victories) got more credit than he did for American victories. Ironically, the Americans probably wouldn't have won the war without Arnold. When he decided to go over to the British, André was his main contact. André was caught on the way back from the trip arranging the surrender of the fort at West Point. He had been caught behind enemy lines and had to disguise himself as an American - which went badly when he greeted American guards (one of whom wore a German coat - the Germans being mercenaries for the British), asking if they were loyal to the King too. They almost let him go, but the leader of the Culper Ring finally showed up and figured out that André was a spy and Arnold's contact. André was executed, but Benedict Arnold escaped and became a general for the British. Arnold lived the rest of his life with limited success - Clinton wasn't the only one that disliked and distrusted him.

As for Clinton, his reputation suffered after Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, and he left the command. Eventually, he became a member of Parliament and even got a governorship of Gibraltar, but he died in 1795, before he could get there.

Agent 355 is actually a real person - or so some people think. Robert Townsend was really a spy in New York City as a part of the Culper Spy Ring, and it's possible that Agent 355 was a member as well. There's only one reference to this agent in the letters that survive, but there are many stories about who she could have been. All that's clear is that she was a woman ('355' was the code for 'lady'). She might have been part of André's group of women - yes, he was really that popular. It seems that she was the only member of the Culper Ring that was caught. Some say that she was pregnant and died on the _Jersey_ after giving birth to her child. No one really is certain that she even existed though, which is why it was a perfect role for Kagome to assume, together with Millie taking on the 'pregnant' part of the legend.

And unfortunately, prison ship were a painful reality for most captured American troops - almost twice as many died on prison ships than in the battles themselves. The _Jersey_ was the worst of them. Prisoners weren't even likely to get rescued by prisoner exchanges - they were left on the ships because they became so sick and weak so quickly that they were likely to die, making them poor trades for the healthier British troops (which were kept in more humane prisons, by that time's standards).

Next chapter, I promise Sesshoumaru will appear in person. :D


	11. 1794: Paris

A/N: Several groups have voted on their awards lately. I've already mentioned "Ghosts" placing at third in AU/AR over at the IYFG. This story did pretty well too! Yay!

At the Inuyasha Fan Guild, this story got 2nd place for Best Action/Adventure.

At Dokuga, this story received:  
1st Place for Best Action/Adventure  
1st Place for Best Characterization - Kagome  
2nd Place for Best Characterization - Sesshoumaru

Yay! Thank you to everyone that contributed. I don't know who nominated me over at Dokuga, so I have to thank them without names, but thank you to forthright and ktshabatie for nominating and seconding me over at IYFG. Big hugs to everyone that voted!

Also - I love the fact that I have many talented artists drawing scenes from my stories. I'm old though, and I forgot to mention a couple of them last time I updated. I *think* this list brings everything up to date. Please (a) tell me if I missed something, so I can give it some love and (b) go and give these artists some of your own love!

Another piece for this story by yukimiya called "SessKag: Salem Witch Trial" - http :/yukimiya. deviantart .com/art/SessKag-Salem-Witch-Trial-124639340  
A WIP for "The Once and Future Taiyoukai" by TheSorrowfulVampress called "The Most Powerful Living Miko" - http :/thesorrowfulvampress. deviantart .com/art/The-Most-Powerful-Living-Miko-122804140  
"SK: It was THIS big" by ZLynn, which was inspired by TOAFT - http :/zlynn. deviantart .com/art/SK-It-was-THIS-big-124546161  
"Fur Gin" by see03 for my one-shot of the same name - http :/see03. deviantart .com/art/Fur-Gin-124018154

Thank you, guys! You're really too good to me. :D *hugs*

**Beside You in Time**  
**1794: Paris, France**

Stepping out of the shop where he had taken his breakfast, Sesshoumaru ensured that his tricolored rosette was pinned securely to his hat and joined the crowds moving along the Rue Honoré. Blue, white and red rosettes and ribbons blossomed from every man, woman and child's bonnet or hat without exception, all fresh and cleanly pressed. No one dared to allow theirs to fade - the ribbon sellers were making a killing, although they were the only ones doing so. The rest of the crowd's clothing was worn and tattered, and Sesshoumaru's coat was in little better condition. It seemed that the revolution for which they wore the tricolored cockades was growing to be quite successful - everyone was equal in their poverty.

The pale columns of the Palais-Egalite soon passed on his right, and the crowd swelled as the revolutionaries that frequented the newly public palace joined them. Many of them, their breath still bitter with the smell of coffee and their clothes still smelling of the prostitutes that now lived in the palace's top floors, greeted him by name. Sesshoumaru tipped his hat to as many as he could - a drunk revolutionary sometimes had the loudest voice of all, and he did not want to attract any more attention than he already did.

They all turned and walked through the Tuileries Garden with another palace that shared its name looming up behind them. Sesshoumaru could already hear the shouts and cries of those that had already gathered in the Place de la Révolution up ahead. The shining light that hovered above the crowd grew until he was close enough to identify the National Razor, its blade gleaming despite the clouds in the sky. Only the ground beneath it was stained with blood - the sharp edge itself was cleaned every night with a loving care that revolted even Sesshoumaru.

"Armand!" called a thin voice. "Armand!"

Sesshoumaru steeled himself before turning to face the mousy, little man. "Citizen Fouché," he greeted, bowing.

"Damned hot," answered the other man. He mopped at his face with a handkerchief and stared up at the taller male. "How do you not sweat, Armand?"

The taiyoukai shifted his gaze, looking for an excuse to leave. "My blood runs colder than most," he replied.

"How fortunate! Well, come over here then. I have a perfect spot," Joseph Fouché beckoned, leading the way to the front.

"I am content to remain in the background," said Sesshoumaru, trying to ignore the stony-faced, armed guards that ringed the scaffold.

"Nonsense. How can you see justice work from so far away?"

The taiyoukai tried not to scowl as he was brought to the edge of the platform that held Madame Guillotine, the Lady that made all citizens equal. Next to him, a row of women sat whispering to one another with yarn and knitting needles in their laps - they were _les_ _tricoteuses_, the knitters, that came every day to knit as heads were lopped off. They were ghouls, thirsty for blood, and Sesshoumaru had seen them whip the crowds into passionate frenzies for the sake of a beheading. For today, however, they seemed to be content to do their more sedate work of simple observation.

A pamphlet was shoved under his nose. "Program, Citizen Grosvenor?" said the vendor. "We haven't seen you here in a bit. Might want to know who is up on the block, don't you?"

"No, thank you," murmured Sesshoumaru, turning away as Joseph Fouché deposited a coin into the man's hand.

"Have a look," his companion said, giving him the program anyway.

The taiyoukai opened the folded paper and frowned. "Seventeen?" he counted. "_Seventeen_ will die today?" He scanned the names, but did not recognize a single one. "It does not state their crimes."

"The crimes not being printed anymore," said Fouché, taking back the program. "Unless it's something _other_ than treason against the revolution, of course."

The procession approached - the guards and then the carts that were normally used to haul wood, filled with victims instead. The executioner and his assistant sat at the front of the cart with the driver, whose shoulders were hunched forward over his plodding team of horses. A coach brought up the rear, and the shadows of the two required witnesses - a court reporter and his clerk - could be seen sitting ramrod straight inside. They would not leave their coach during the execution but watch from their shaded perches. Soon, their greedy little fingers would be clutching at the window of their coach as the victims of their bosses on the Revolutionary Tribunal died.

"Of course," intoned the dog demon, watching the cart stop at the other end of the platform. Seventeen pale faces stared out at the crowd. "And yet, it amazes me."

"What, my friend?"

Sesshoumaru tried not to scowl - he was not Fouché's friend. He was civil to a man that had the power to get him onto the platform with those seventeen men and women. It was the same reason he never tore Maximilien Robespierre's deceitful tongue out of his mouth - it was simply not wise. "That people still refuse to recognize the Committee of Public Safety's power."

"The power is with the people, Armand," corrected Fouché. "Robespierre simply speaks for all of us."

His words were loyal to the Republic, but Sesshoumaru heard the specter of distrust in his associate's voice. "Does he?"

Fouché smiled faintly. "Well, for now." They shared a look. "All men are mortal," he added with a shrug.

Sesshoumaru turned to the scaffold again as the mob exploded with yells - the condemned were lined up, and the first man was walking towards the guillotine. Tall and fair, the man could hardly look less threatening in his filthy rags. The crowd writhed in anticipation as the man cowered under the hands of the guards that loosened the neck of his shirt so that the blade cut cleanly through his flesh. The citizen on the other side of Sesshoumaru had a child on his shoulders that yelled along, waving his tricolored badge.

The executioner worked with troubling ease and efficiency, strapping the man to the bascule that his body would rest upon and then securing his head in the lunette so that he could not move away from the blade. In moments, he was finished with his preparations and stepped back, slowing his pace as the mob's cries intensified. Sesshoumaru could not hear the victim's sobs over the din, but he could smell the tears. He saw one of the women that was waiting her turn lift her tied hands and weep into them. She had black hair and dark eyes, and her shape was so familiar that he had to look back at the National Razor for a less painful sight.

The blade came down with a whisper, and Sesshoumaru watched a head topple into the basket. Blood spilled from behind the blade, splashing onto the wooden scaffold and dribbling towards the edge - the rapid depressurization of the arteries was emptying the body of its fluids, and the crowd screamed in delight. The more blood the better.

One of the guards on the platform stepped forward and lifted the head out of the basket - the man's terrified expression had slackened, and his cheeks were pale. Sesshoumaru had seen many severed heads in his days, but the spectacle of the guard strutting about with the head of this 'traitor' sickened him. As one piece of the corpse was put on display, the other guards rolled the man's body away, tipping it into a cart without ceremony.

The woman that had been crying was led forward to the guillotine as the crowd's excitement faded. It was a dance - choreographed for maximum pleasure of the audience and so that their fervor would never fade completely. Sesshoumaru turned away. "I should leave. I have matters to attend to."

"I'm sure that the Tribunal will understand," Fouché said. "This is for the Republic."

"So is my work for Citizen Fouquier-Tinville," replied Sesshoumaru.

Fouché grinned. "Yes. Things must march on, no matter who meets Madame Guillotine. I will see you later, my friend."

The taiyoukai made his exit, pushing through the crowd. Behind him, the blade fell again - his ears picked up the sharp thump over all the yelling. He could see the black-haired woman's head in his mind's eye and how the guard must be showing it off to the mob.

He hated them all. He wished that he could release his concealment spell and flatten every cheering fool in the square.

Instead, he moved towards the Palace with its long, white facade covered with a grid of windows. He didn't bother to ask the sentries if the Revolutionary Tribunal was meeting today - it had been meeting every day for the past few weeks, including Sundays. Five years after the beginning of the revolution, there were more enemies to it than ever, and the court had to work entirely to purge Paris of the dangerous element - the counter-revolutionaries.

It had started with King Louis XVI. Sesshoumaru had been in the same square that day as well - the corners of Paris had emptied to see the king's execution. Those were the days that some people still wept openly about the monarch's fate, and he had stood beside a woman that had sobbed into his shirt sleeve as Louis had taken his place under Madame Guillotine.

But it was Louis's wife, the reviled Marie Antoinette, that had set off the spectacles of the Reign of Terror that sent so many to the guillotine every day after her. Sesshoumaru had attended the trial - as much as outrageous accusations such as incest with her son could be called a trial - and had seen her killed up on the scaffold nine months after her husband. Even in her most unpopular of days, the queen had been touted as beautiful, but Sesshoumaru had watched the pressure of the revolution and her husband's death wash out any redeeming qualities. When she died, she was pathetic and small, like a mouse that had lived too long with a teasing cat.

After that, the public had cried for more blood. And so it had received. The Jacobins had seized power, and one by one, their enemies fell. Anyone too soft on the royal family was declared a traitor. Then it was anyone that supported the nobility, the clergy and finally, Christianity itself. Now, anyone who refuted the absolute power of Robespierre and his Committee of Public Safety lived under the shadow of the guillotine. The Jacobins, Robespierre's own revolutionaries, had splintered, and he had turned against his former compatriots. No one was safe.

He opened the door to the side chamber of the courtroom, picking up the papers on his previous night's work and crossing the door that led into the main chamber. Twenty-three men and women were to be tried for treason today. It was ten o'clock, so they had probably already made it through four or five of them - the lack of defense lawyers and, usually, witnesses made things far simpler than the days that the court had observed the laws and rules of procedure. Antoine Fouquier-Tinville would just be hitting his stride about now, and it was the best moment to try to speak with him.

Putting his hand on the doorknob, Sesshoumaru paused. He felt the telltale pull at the pit of his stomach twist with renewed energy - an immortal was on the other side of the door, in the courtroom.

"Finally," he muttered before entering the main chamber. There were too many people here at the moment - it was filled to capacity, and he struggled to breathe the stagnant air, despite the open windows. A quick sweep of the room with his eyes told him nothing, of course. The shape-shifters could look like anyone they chose. They could be masquerading as one of the men running this circus.

He looked up at those same men. Beneath the statute of Justice - complete with sword and scales and the now ignored tomes of the law - sat the judges on their bench. They wore tricolor plumes of feathers in their hats, eschewing the tradition of sober dress for jurists. To their left, the rows of the accused sat under the watchful eyes of the guards. The jury congregated at the judges' left, sitting up with sharp attention to the parade of gray-faced, future victims of the guillotine. The gallery was full of observers, all on their feet like a silent choir. They would begin singing for blood in a moment.

It could be any one of them, and their lust for their form of justice wouldn't help identify the intruder. The monsters were not just the ones pretending to be human within these walls. The thought that the shape-shifter or the mob might attack at any time didn't help either.

Sesshoumaru walked across the floor, ignoring the tearful pleas of the beefy man on trial, and placed a stack of papers in front of Fouquier-Tinville. "Where have you been?" asked the public prosecutor, not looking at his clerk. Around his chubby throat, he wore a tricolored scarf knitted by one of _les_ _tricoteuses_ at the scaffold.

"I was in the square, watching justice carried out," replied the taiyoukai without pause. He tapped the pile of parchment under the nose of the squat, dark-haired man. He kept an eye upon the rest of the room, looking for anything unusual. "These need your immediate attention. Citizen..."

The lawyer held up his hand, forcing the dog demon to pause. "You were seen in the company of known Feuillants!" he shouted at the blubbering man in the center of the room. Sesshoumaru resisted the urge to glare at the lie - the Feuillants were monarchists that had long been killed or fled Paris.

"No! No," cried the accused. "I am only a butcher!"

"Then you will meet a fitting end," said one of the judges from the bench above Sesshoumaru. The entire room cracked grim smiles.

"Where are these men?" asked the butcher, gulping air. "I would never have a monarchist in my shop!"

"They have already met their fates," replied Fouquier-Tinville. "They named you as their co-conspirator. What proof do you have that you are not plotting against the revolution? Where is your evidence that you don't know these Feuillants?"

"How can I prove anything when I have no idea who is accusing me?" cried the defendant. "How can I say prove anything other than what I do? All I do every day is wait for decent meat and serve my customers the cuts I receive!"

"And you receive information from monarchists, passing them on to people who seek to destroy this court, the Committee of Public Safety and the Incorruptible, Maximillien Robespierre!" thundered Fouquier-Tinville. "We know what a butcher does, but what does a man do when his hands are idle? I ask you again. Where is your proof of innocence?"

The wind went out of his sails as quickly as they filled. The man looked down at the floor, pearl-like tears still dripping off his nose. "I can say nothing more than I already have. I am a loyal to the revolution, citizen," he murmured.

"That is for the jury to decide now," snarled Fouquier-Tinville. "I submit to those fine men that you are a liar and a traitor besides. You clearly do not concern yourself with the greater good of the revolution, but with your own mortal life. I have never seen such a disgrace! I leave it to the jury to agree or disagree with me." He turned to the box of men, all of whom were nodding like mechanical dolls at the prosecutor's words.

The chief judge, Dumas, nodded. "The jury will now deliberate on the charge of treason."

The trial was over - there was no advocacy for the accused. Fouquier-Tinville turned to his clerk as the jurors began to whisper to one another. The butcher was left to stand in the middle of the room. "What is it, Armand?" he asked, his breath quick with the thrill of victory.

"Tomorrow's list of defendants," Sesshoumaru replied. "There is a priest."

Fouquier-Tinville brightened. "We haven't had a clergyman in awhile."

"No, citizen. That is why I felt it necessary to bring it to your attention," the dog demon said. "I have made a few notations."

"Citizen Robespierre believes such trials can be beneficial to our new religion," the lawyer said, pawing through the documents. "Reason and Virtue must be established in the place of the Church. Taking down another priest might impress that upon the traitors. There are still some who believe in that ridiculous tripe of an all-powerful God."

"A very few, surely," replied Sesshoumaru flatly. Behind him, the jury called out its guilty verdict, and the judge declared the judgment valid with a wave of his hand. A cheer rose from the gallery as the crying butcher was taken away. He would be guillotined soon enough. The backlog was so great these days.

"We all know that men are the ones with the power," said the prosecutor. He smiled, displaying his small teeth. "Good, Armand. Tomorrow will be another good day for the Republic. Just like today."

Another clerk standing at the end of the table scanned his list. "Bastien Girard de Chevalier!" he called.

A thin man with thick brown hair pulled back at the nape of his long neck and a prominent nose was hauled out of his seat and brought forward. Sesshoumaru would not have paid attention, save for the straightening of Fouquier-Tinville's spine. "Someone special, citizen?" he asked.

"A Girondin," said his master. "Another one that we don't see too much of these days. And I hear this one has a witness on his behalf." He said the last part loudly, so that the entire court could hear.

"I do," said the man on trial. He was not shying away from Fouquier-Tinville as the previous man had done. Sesshoumaru guessed that this defendant had been in the military - his bearing under the gaze of so many unfriendly eyes led him to no other possible conclusion. He had learned to recognize it over the years. "I have my own statement to make first."

"No. Bring this witness forward, if he dares to display his disloyalty in public," the prosecutor said, leaning back in his chair. The scribes at his sides readied their quills to write down the name of the brave fool.

A figure parted from the masses in the gallery. "I'm here and ready to speak."

There was a flash of recognition and final pull in the depths of his chest, and he had to suppress a smirk. Of course. Kagome _would_ come to the defense of a doomed man. He should have known it was her. Her scent had been buried with all the bodies in the room, but the lack of urgency in his instincts to find and kill the immortal should have told him that it was only Kagome.

Her eyes found him quickly, but she had obviously seen him several minutes ago and could let her gaze drift over him with no apparent surprise. She was dressed as every other woman in the room, with a tricolor cockade on her cap and poorly fitting stays under her drab clothes, but there was a color in her cheek that had not been there in a very long time. "He is not what you say," she commented. Her Parisian French was flawless, and she seemed to speak with the very voice of the Republic - smooth, serene and dangerously confident. "He supports this revolution with all of his heart."

"That's very nice to hear," Fouquier-Tinville said with no small amount of disdain. "Who are you, woman?"

"I am Aurelie Rousseau," she replied. "I am the sister of Lieutenant-colonel Pierre Rousseau."

There was a murmur at the bench. "Your brother," began Dumas. He leaned over the table. "Your brother is deployed at the border at the moment, I'm assuming?"

"Fighting the Prussians," affirmed Kagome with a small smile. Her eyes flickered towards the taiyoukai. "My brother counts Bastien Girard de Chevalier as one of his dearest friends. They are only apart because he is home for a short time on leave before he returns to fight. He is a Commander in our army."

The judge looked down at Fouquier-Tinville, whose self-satisfied smile was quickly fading. "Why is this man before us, Antoine?"

The royalist officers of yesterday had been the most recent victims of the guillotine. Young, competent officers drawn from non-aristocracy were difficult to come by and could not be wasted. "He is a Girondin," said the prosecutor. "He has been heard advocating the presence of the Christian God."

"I am a Jacobin," said Bastien.

"There are Jacobins and then there are Jacobins," growled the lawyer, not meeting the officer's eyes.

Kagome took a breath. "With all due respect, citizen, my brother would never associate with anyone less than a true revolutionary. I have proof of the defendant's loyalty to our republican cause."

Fouquier-Tinville's jaw set. "The accused does not have right to counsel!" he shouted, getting to his feet. "The Committee of Public Safety and The Incorruptible, Maximillien Robespierre, has decreed it so."

Kagome blinked prettily. "I am a woman. I am no lawyer."

The room filled with light chuckles, but the judges did not seem to find any amusement in it as they glared down at Fouquier-Tinville. "Who brought this accusation?" Dumas demanded. "And what is your proof, Citizeness Rousseau?"

She drew a letter from her sleeve. "I do not know who brought this accusation. Perhaps the true Girondin who has been spreading lies about the revolution in our quarter of the city," she suggested with a light shrug. "But I have a letter from Brigadier General Napoleon Bonaparte, written after the Fall of Toulon. My brother and the accused fought in that battle and won the notice of the General. He praises them as patriots to our cause."

A wave of whispers cascaded through the room - Bonaparte was the new hero of the French forces and a particular favorite of Maximillien Robespierre and his brother, Augustin. Sesshoumaru crossed the room to retrieve the letter, and he met Kagome's eyes as he took the slip of paper from her fingers. She did not smile, but he could hear her long, deep breaths. Her eyes were shining with cautious triumph.

There was only one more hurdle - to convince the judges that dismissing an innocent man would not impair the progress of the revolution in any way. Kagome waited for a moment as Dumas read Bonaparte's letter and then launched into her speech. "As the Incorruptible has said, terror is the only way to discover true virtue. If we forgive easily and let the law bend as it did before the revolution, we will corrupt our freedom and our virtue that we fought so hard for. In short, terror separates the patriots from the traitors. " She took a step towards the bench. "But this man has already seen terror and passed through unharmed. There is no greater terror - no greater test of patriotism - than standing on the field of battle with one's fellow citizens of the Republic and pushing back those enemies that would only return the power to a few instead of the people. Commander Girard de Chevalier is one of those men. To use him as an example brings no more virtue to this revolution. Without virtue, terror is only terror. We must not divide the two."

She paused to take a breath, but the prosecutor broke in. "We will not listen to this woman!" he shouted. "You are no orator, citizeness, and we will not listen to Citizen Robespierre's words perverted by the feminine mind. You could not possibly comprehend them." He looked towards the commander. "The accused will speak on his own behalf!"

Sesshoumaru saw Kagome falter and realized the problem - Bastien could speak the same words as she just did, but they would become disingenuous and self-serving in his voice. In front of misogynists, a woman's words were given less weight, but they were also softened because they came from the 'fairer sex'. Sesshoumaru had seen the trials of the nobility that had served in the army - their discipline and fearlessness in front of the jury had done them no favors. This court wanted tears as well as blood. The judges already had fallen quiet as they looked at him.

"Citizen," said the taiyoukai, stepping between Fouquier-Tinville and Girard de Chevalier before he could stop himself. "I will speak on the accused's behalf, as someone more learned than this simple woman."

Fouquier-Tinville frowned up at his clerk. "And what do you know of this matter, Armand?"

"She and her brother, Pierre, are my kinsmen. I will vouch for her words and, by association, for this defendant." He saw the dubious looks of the judges. "And we cannot forget the words of Brigadier General Bonaparte," he added.

"I thought you had no family, Citizen Grosvenor," Dumas murmured.

He wore his best mask of indifference. "I did not think they were still alive, but I have recognized her and the name of her brother. I trust her words."

"This is ridiculous. You are my clerk, not a witness!" said the prosecutor.

"You are right about Bonaparte," said Dumas, leaning over the bench and rereading the letter. "And I must say that in your time here, Citizen Grosvenor, I have known you to be a vigorous advocate for the revolution, the Republic and Citizen Robespierre."

"You cannot be considering, Your Honor," began Fouquier-Tinville.

"Do you not trust your own clerk?" asked the judge, frowning down at the other man. Fouquier-Tinville sank back into his seat, and Dumas gestured at the guards. "Based on this evidence, I order the charges dismissed and the prisoner freed. Commander Girard de Chevalier, I expect you to fight for our Republic again soon."

The gallery exploded with shouts - some congratulatory and some scathing. Sesshoumaru kept his eyes upon the prosecutor, but he could hear the ropes falling away from the commander's wrists. Fouquier-Tinville beckoned to him as the former defendant and Kagome escaped the suffocation of the room. The din covered the lawyer's words. "I have no idea what that was about, Armand," he growled, "but I will find out. Until I do, you are excused from my service in this court."

Sesshoumaru leveled a long look at the lawyer as he contemplated his choices. At last, he decided that there were enough public decapitations in Paris. "Of course, citizen. I will return these to the other room for my replacement's perusal," the taiyoukai said, picking up the sheaf of papers and leaving the same way he came. Just as the door closed behind him, the clerk called for the next defendant to take his place.

He tossed the documents on the desk that was once his and left the room without pause. Kagome hadn't lingered in the hallway - she waited for him outside, at the edge of the Place de la Révolution. The crowds that had watched the morning's executions were dispersing now, and she stood near the path they took out of the square, not watching for him but studying each person that passed by her.

"Kagome."

She turned and looked up at him - the barest hint of a smile graced her lips. "Sesshoumaru. How are you?"

"As well as I could be in this place," he replied. "And you?"

"The same, I suppose," she said. "I didn't expect you to actually stop and speak with me."

"Circumstances seemed to call for it." He studied her for a moment. "Where is your friend, the commander?"

Kagome glanced away and gestured vaguely. "Oh, over there. He saw someone he recognized from the army. Someone who owes him money, luckily enough. We're going to try to get a coach out of Paris."

"I have money. I could pay for it."

She did smile then. "No. Bastien would never borrow money that he wasn't absolutely sure he could repay, and who knows? Someone might catch up with us. He'd feel worse about not paying the debt than going in front of those vultures again." She nodded towards the Palace.

The way she said his name - his first name - told him more than he wanted to know. "You anticipate returning to see the Tribunal?"

"I'm going on the odds here. How many people have they let go?" she asked. "Of that number, how many don't end up back where they started? Especially since that idiotic law passed a few weeks ago, they don't really need any evidence to send you to the guillotine."

Sesshoumaru nodded - the Law of 22 Prairial had made it almost impossible to escape the attention of the National Razor once it had someone in its shadow. As it was, Kagome had pushed the bounds of the law by defending the commander. He suspected that only invoking the name of Napoleon Bonaparte had saved her. "I am sure there was at least one member of the Committee of Public Safety in there that did not appreciate you speaking for your friend. Both of your names will be on top of the next list the Committee looks at."

"So will yours," Kagome said. "You helped us, but you don't even know Bastien."

Something rolled in his stomach that had become familiar in the years since Tortuga - guilt. He pushed it away. Kagome didn't seem anxious to dredge up the past. Her calm civility disturbed him - he had not planned on meeting her again so soon. He had thought peace was still far in her future - the last time he had seen her, she had been swathed in somber dresses and had been playing the part of a severe governess for English children. Now, he had already seen her smile. "No, but I felt it necessary."

"Oh," she said, her eyes widening slightly. "Why?"

"Do you actually believe that I approve of what is going on in this city?"

She shrugged. "If anything, I would have said that you would be a monarchist. You have a title that you inherited, after all. Then again, the Jacobins aren't exactly shy about showing displeasure, which reminds me of you too," she murmured. "But if you don't enjoy it, why are you here? And why on earth are you the clerk for Fouquier-Tinville? He's vile. I'd heard about him, of course, but I'd never seen him in action. He's slime. Now, _that_ I'm surprised about."

"I sensed another immortal in Paris, and so I stayed." He folded his hands behind his back. "I took the position of clerk so that I could survey the inner workings of this revolution without attracting too much attention. It seemed unlikely that the shape-shifters would not be drawn by the chaos of this city. But now, I see it was you."

Kagome nodded. "They would love this," she agreed. "How long have you sensed another immortal?"

"For several months."

"Ah. Then, it wasn't me after all," she replied. "I've only been here a month. I came as soon as I heard Bastien was arrested. I wasn't lying. He really is a commander, and I've been near the northern border with him and Shippo. I'm one of the nurses there. I don't think you would have thought I was in Paris when I was all the way up there."

"Shippo? The fox?" His brow creased.

"Yes," she said. A cloud passed over her expression. "There are a few things I want to talk to you about him, by the way."

"Now is not the time."

"No," she agreed. She paused and softened again. "Now is the time to look for the shape-shifter, if there is one around."

"I have felt one quite close to me for some time now. I thought it was the sister," he said. "She is craftier than her brother, since I have been here for some time. She has managed to elude me."

"Maybe it's more than one," she murmured. "This could get difficult."

"Especially if she has sensed you and decides to follow you out of the city instead of staying here in Paris." Sesshoumaru took a breath. "Perhaps it would be better if we both left together. Until the matter is settled."

Kagome blinked. "'We'?" she echoed. She glanced around. "Sesshoumaru, that could be..."

"You are betrothed to Girard de Chevalier?" he interrupted.

"I didn't say that," she snapped quickly. She paused and looked away. "That's not the problem. It's just complicated now. Shippo has been acting as my brother, and Bastien is our closest friend. But he doesn't know what I am or what Shippo is, for that matter. I don't really want to get him into... well, he doesn't deserve getting dragged into what we went through for so long. I don't want him near those shape-shifters."

"I see," he said.

"That doesn't mean I don't want you to come along, Sesshoumaru," she said, biting at her lower lip. "It would be complicated, but it would be worth it. But only if you really wanted to."

Sesshoumaru couldn't decide if she was hoping he would accompany her or not. Perhaps she wasn't sure either. Before he could ask, Bastien approached. "Aurelie," he said, "I have the money. I think it's enough."

Her attention immediately shifted away from him, and Sesshoumaru knew the answer to his question. Kagome smiled at the commander with such warmth that it lit up the grim square. "Wonderful. I'm sure it is." She looked back at Sesshoumaru. "Bastien, this is..."

"The man that saved my life, yes," the commander said, thrusting his hand towards the dog demon. Up close, Sesshoumaru could see that the man was not meant to be as thin as he was. Paris's deplorable prisons probably killed just as many as the guillotine - his collar bone jutted out beneath the tattered clothing that was slightly too loose on his body. His nose would always be as sharp and large as it looked now, but he had clearly learned not to smile too often, lest he draw attention to it.

Sesshoumaru shook his proffered hand. "Armand Grosvenor."

"Bastien Girard de Chevalier. Citizen Grosvenor, I owe you a debt. I could hardly believe it. I have never heard of someone standing up to Fouquier-Tinville like that. Do you really know Pierre and my Aurelie?" he asked, putting a hand on Kagome's shoulder. "I don't remember them mentioning you. But I am pleased you are their friend and, by association, my friend as well."

Sesshoumaru watched Kagome lean into his touch. "I am a distant relation," he said. "A cousin."

"About the coach, Bastien. Armand was saying that he would want..."

"To secure one for you," interrupted Sesshoumaru swiftly. "You should not feel as if your release means that you can wander the streets of Paris freely."

"Of course," said the commander with a sharp nod.

"You have your papers?" he asked, ignoring Kagome's scowl.

"Always," answered Bastien. "Where will you go?"

Sesshoumaru pointed up to Rue Honoré. "My house is not far. The two of you should remain there as I make the arrangements."

"You save us once again, Citizen Grosvenor," said Bastien, bowing.

The dog demon led the way, scanning the people moving along the streets for familiar faces. The Tribunal itself would still be in session, but there were several key members of the National Convention that drifted in and out of the meetings, as most of their important powers was held by the Committee of Public Safety alone. Looking back at the pair, he saw Kagome leaning up to whisper in the commander's ear. "Do you know who wants you dead?" Sesshoumaru asked, forcing them to break apart.

"It could be anyone," Bastien replied.

"You are a Girondin, aren't you?" he asked.

"Lower your voice!" Kagome chided.

The taiyoukai ignored her. "You are," he insisted.

"I am only for the return of sense," the officer muttered. "The insanity that has reigned in this city since Louis's death is far more brutal than anything I have seen on the battlefield. I did not support the royalists. They were choking France with their frivolity. But I do not support needless death either." He gave his savior a sidelong glance. "But I suppose I should not say these things to a Jacobin."

Kagome wrapped her hand around Bastien's arm. "Armand doesn't like what's happening either."

Sesshoumaru was silent for a moment. "No, I don't," he said. "I believe in competent leaders, whether they are of royal blood or from the streets."

The commander nodded. "Then we are in accord."

"I suppose you could say that." He frowned slightly. "I asked for your enemies, commander, because the men of the Committee and the Convention have turned their sights on their personal foes, not just political ones."

Bastien considered it for a moment. "I have neighbors who wish to take my land," he said. "But they have no power in this government."

"Everyone with the will and the immorality for it has power these days," Sesshoumaru said. "Still, if you are not sure, we cannot take a chance. It is possible that someone higher up in the government has his eye on you and wishes for your death. Someone like that would have the power to rearrest you almost immediately. Especially once they discover the letter from Bonaparte is a forgery. That will condemn you both in an instant."

Kagome blinked. "How did you know?"

Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow. "A guess, but it seemed too convenient."

"I thought it was clever," Kagome said, lifting her chin.

"It worked. That is what matters," said the commander.

Sesshoumaru kept his eyes on the crowd moving around them, trying to concentrate on the faces of others, but he could not stop his mouth from opening each time he saw Kagome move close to Bastien. "Where do you wish to go when you leave?" he asked.

"Calais would be ideal," Girard de Chevalier replied, looking away from Kagome once more. "It is close to the front."

"You are returning to the army?" Sesshoumaru asked, his lip curling.

Bastien frowned. "To do otherwise would be desertion."

"Pierre is waiting for us," Kagome added. "We can't leave him there."

"They have just as much power to arrest you on the front lines of battle as here in Paris," Sesshoumaru replied, lowering his voice. "If you want to keep your head for any measurable amount of time, you would do well to cross to England at the first chance."

The officer shook his head. "I cannot do that, citizen."

Sesshoumaru's eyes moved from him to Kagome. "We'll be fine," she affirmed.

"So be it," he muttered, looking forward again. "Calais, then."

They all fell silent, save for the occasional murmurings between Kagome and the commander. Sesshoumaru kept his eyes in front of him, although they did not seem to see, and it was pure habit that made him turn off of Rue Honoré and find his small home wedged into the space between two identical buildings. Its brick facade was unmarked in any way, but his neighbor to the left had gone well beyond the call of duty and had draped every window in blue, white and red. In the dark, shady street, the shades were diluted and appeared to be colored black, gray and blood.

Sesshoumaru unlocked the door and led his guests indoors before beckoning to a street urchin that lingered at his doorstep. "Émile, you will earn three, copper _sol_ for going to Citizen Gravois and ordering a carriage to take two to Calais. If it is here within the hour, an extra _sol_."

"Yes, citizen!" answered the boy, scampering off.

"Was that wise?"Kagome said from inside the doorway. "He could tell anyone."

Sesshoumaru closed the door behind him, shrouding the front hallway in semi-darkness. Everything - the walls, ceiling and floor - was made of the same, pock-marked, dark wood. There was no adornment. A peek into the front parlor showed only the mandated number of stiff-backed chairs and small tables for coffee. "It would be far more dangerous to tell him that he could not breathe a word to anyone," he replied. "And Émile, like most these days, cares less for what others are doing and more about the coin he can get his hands on. He regularly runs errands for me, as I have no proper servant."

"No joke," Kagome murmured, wandering down the corridor towards the kitchen at the back of the small house. She opened the coarse, linen drapes and peered around her. The small kitchen was immaculate - almost entirely unused. The larder in the corner, with its mesh cover to keep out the bugs, was empty. "I don't suppose you have something to eat? I'm starving. Bastien, how are you?"

"Only tired," said the commander, following her footsteps at a slower pace.

"The garden has a high fence around it," Sesshoumaru said, gesturing to the small patch of grass beneath the kitchen windows. "It is far more relaxing than the spare bedroom, which is always too warm, especially in the summer. There is a chaise."

The officer nodded, thankful. "Then I will rest out there."

"I'll bring you something to eat soon," Kagome said as he slipped out the back door. She pulled some bread down from the pantry and watched Sesshoumaru out of the corner of her eye. "You're being awfully nice."

"It would be senseless to have saved you both from the guillotine in the court, only to allow you to be arrested moments later," he murmured, leaning against the wooden bench in the darkest corner of the room where he often kept his boots.

"I suppose," she murmured. "You don't like him, do you?"

"Why would you believe that?" he asked.

"Because if you weren't carefully avoiding the topic, you would have made at least a few remarks already. That's just you."

"You haven't been around me for any length of time in a century," Sesshoumaru replied. "I may have changed. This city requires a considerable amount of diplomacy."

"You were always good at diplomacy. Civility though? That's a different animal." She shook her head. "You don't change, Sesshoumaru."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. "You once told me to stay out of your personal decisions. I am forbidden from interfering."

"This isn't interfering. This is an opinion. You don't have any say in what I do."

He frowned. "Very well. That nose and his thinness makes him look like a bird. An awkward bird."

She didn't take offense, as he had expected, but only smiled as she sliced thick pieces of the rye loaf. "A little," she admitted, ducking her head and coloring slightly. "I think he looks like Ichabod Crane."

"Who?"

"No one. I don't think he's around yet," she said. She glanced out the window and saw that he had dozed off in the chaise lounge. "But he is very like him. In appearances only, of course."

"And in character?"

She shrugged. "I'm not quite sure yet."

"He is boring then," he said, straightening and crossing his arms.

Kagome laughed. "No, I don't think so. He's serious. He's clever too, otherwise Shippo wouldn't like him. He's..." She trailed off and shrugged again. "Well, I'm willing to learn what he's like."

"Then, you are marrying him."

"I didn't say that." She reached to the window sill, where the taiyoukai had been keeping his last, few tomatoes. They had grown in his garden since he had moved into the place and often gave them to Émile in lieu of coins. Without a word, she sliced it into two, perfect, heart-shaped halves. "Shippo wants me to," she said at last. "He hasn't told me so, but I know. He would never tell anyone who they should marry."

Her eyes darted to his face, and his frown deepened as he caught her meaning. "Rin grew to adulthood as humans do. When Rin was grown, Shippo was still considered a child. They could not have been mates."

"I know that," Kagome said, "but you exiled him."

"For his own safety." He took a deep breath. "It is out of my power to remedy the situation. I do not wish to discuss it further. It is _pointless_ to discuss it further."

"You said you would."

"I have said all that I can say on the subject. I did not say the discussion would be lengthy."

"Fine," she huffed. "Why aren't you going with us to Calais?"

Sesshoumaru set his jaw. "I have decided to stay and to find the shape-shifter."

"I should do that with you." She put her hand on her hip and waved the tip of the knife at him. "This isn't Salem all over again!"

"It _is_ Salem. You are in danger - once again - and you must leave. I believe you have said it before, but remember, we are not certain to survive decapitation, Kagome. Either way, it is not something I wish to test." He frowned and took a breath before continuing. "The important thing is that is that this is not Tortuga. You are not running, and you are no longer defenseless."

She looked at him for a moment. "You know about that?"

"I have seen you," he admitted. "You are an... an exceptional shot."

She flushed deep red and turned back to the counter top. "Thank you," she murmured. After a moment's silence, she cleared her throat. "A bullet can move as fast as a youkai, can't it?"

"Roughly the same speed, depending on the species of demon," he said.

"Is this the first time you sensed another immortal in all this time? Besides me?" she asked, looking back at him over her shoulder.

"No, but it is the closest I have gotten."

"Then why can't I stay and help you?"

"You could," he said, walking over to stand next to her. "But what will you do with him?" He pointed to the sleeping man in the garden.

Kagome opened her mouth, shut it and frowned up at him. "You're being deliberately difficult. If you don't want to travel with me anymore, you can just say so. It's alright. I've gotten over it, you know. You don't have to feel guilty about leaving me alone. I'm fine these days."

His golden eyes were suddenly shining with the afternoon sunlight as his concealment spell slipped. "Are you truly 'over it'?" he asked.

"As much as you can get over something like that," she murmured. "Isn't it enough that I want you to come with us? I don't care if it's difficult."

"I never said..." He stopped, and the concealment spell sprang to life again, shading his eyes in gray. "Someone is here."

"The carriage?" she asked, following him to the front of the house.

Sesshoumaru drew the curtains back an inch. "No," he muttered. "Guards. It's Fouquier-Tinville."

"Already?" gasped Kagome.

"He hates to lose," growled Sesshoumaru. "Wake the commander and wait at the back of the garden."

She flew back down the corridor and out the back door as Sesshoumaru sped up the stairs to the second floor. He had been prepared for a quick escape for some time - he had never managed to pretend at the fervor that the Jacobins preferred - and the bag was waiting for him on top his nightstand. Grabbing it, he retraced his steps, closing the back door behind him just as there was a thunderous knock on the front door. Kagome and a very alert Bastien stood at the wall at the end of the lawn.

He pressed the bag into Kagome's hands and brushed aside the hanging ivy to reveal a small, wrought-iron gate. It was rusted shut, but a shove of his shoulder was more than enough to dislodge it with a groan of metal. "To the left," he ordered, as the pair slipped out in front of him. Sesshoumaru took hold of the frame and the gate and, with a twist of his wrist, turned the iron bars into a pretzel before he hurried after the others.

Fouquier-Tinville's voice could be heard swearing behind them as they ran down the alley, but they had bought precious time - the guards would have to go around the entire block of houses, and Citizen Gravois and his carriage would be waiting closer to them than to the lawyer and his goons.

They did not dare to run once they had reached the street, but with two men that stood so tall and Kagome's strange face, they attracted unwelcome attention from passers-by. "How far?" Kagome murmured, trying to breathe normally and failing.

"Not far," replied Sesshoumaru.

"There," Bastien muttered, pointing ahead to the carriage that trundled down the street in the direction of Sesshoumaru's house. The pair of horses were looking bright-eyed and stepping high, and the driver seemed sober - small miracles to be thankful for. "Citizen Grosvenor!" greeted the driver, once they had flagged him down. "I was just going to your place, I was."

"My sister and her husband were quite eager to begin their trip," Sesshoumaru said, taking the bag from Kagome and handing over the promised fee, which the driver pocketed. "He is in poor health and desperately needs the sea air."

The driver glanced at the pale, sweaty face of Bastien. "I can see that, citizen. Are you not coming?" he asked, as Sesshoumaru opened the door and Bastien got in.

"I have a few things to take care of first," he replied. The taiyoukai glanced down the road and, seeing no guards yet, looked back at Kagome. She stood at the open door of the carriage, taking the bag back when Sesshoumaru put it into her arms.

"What is it?" she asked in soft Japanese.

"A gun," he replied in kind, not caring if Bastien heard their language shift. "Some more money. You must leave immediately. Get in."

"We didn't leave things very well last time," she said. "I don't want that to happen again."

He frowned and looked over his shoulder again. Still, no guards. "It isn't. Go."

"Please, tell me what you were going to say in the kitchen," she pled, her eyes growing wide. One hand wrapped around his wrist.

Sesshoumaru took a breath. "I was simply going to say that I never wished to let you leave alone again." He carefully extricated himself from her grasp. "I _will_ follow."

"Promise?" she asked, as he ushered her into the carriage.

"Yes," he vowed. His demon ears picked up the distant sounds of shouting - he could hear his name, as well as hers. He pounded the side of the carriage with the flat of his hand. "Go! Quickly!" he shouted at the driver in French.

"No! Wait a moment!" Kagome stretched her arm out of the window and grasped his upper arm. "I _must_ tell you."

"They are coming!"

She nodded. "I know. But I have to tell you," she said in Japanese. "Robespierre dies, Sesshoumaru. He dies on the guillotine along with a lot of other Jacobins. Soon, too. The others turn against him, and the Terror ends. You can help that happen!"

He stared at her for just a moment - he had almost forgotten that this massacre could end with the death of its architect. "Yes. I will remember."

"And, Sesshoumaru, I forgive you. For everything. Please, find us again," she said, blinking rapidly. She turned back to the driver before he could reply. "Now, go!" she shouted.

The carriage wheeled away from him, turning off the main street in order to reorient itself to go north. It disappeared just as the first guards came into view, shouting for him to stop in his tracks.

Sesshoumaru took a breath and stood his ground as long as he could. They raced towards him with their rifles in hand, and just as they came within striking distance with their bayonets, he began to run. Choosing the opposite direction than the carriage, he led them on a merry chase around Paris. His feet were light, and, despite the threat on his heels, so was his heart.

* * *

It was three weeks before anyone saw Armand Grosvenor in Paris again. There were rumors of his escape, and soon, they could say his name out loud. But it was not until the twenty-eighth of July that anyone welcomed him back properly.

Joseph Fouché was lingering at the side entrance of the Tuileries Palace when a shadow fell across his path. "My dear Armand!" he cried, smiling. "I was wondering if you were going to arrive in time."

Sesshoumaru did not smile in return. "There was no trial?"

"I keep my promises," Fouché replied, nodding. "Are you coming to watch then? The square is already filling up."

"As much as I would enjoy it, there is still a warrant out for my arrest," Sesshoumaru replied.

"It was the warrant for your arrest that made me decide that something must be done at last," the other man said. "You have nothing to worry about anymore."

"What about Fouquier-Tinville?"

"We haven't decided yet," Fouché said. "But the assurance remains. You will not die by the guillotine."

"That is not so assuring in these times. Robespierre was the Incorruptible a short time ago."

Fouché grinned. "Only to his supporters, Armand. To the rest of us, he was the Tyrant," he said. "You will probably be considered a hero after this."

"I have no wish to be mentioned at all," said Sesshoumaru.

"Have you thought of what will happen after today? What is already happening?" asked his companion. "Think about it, Armand! He is the rock of the revolution and of the Terror! Anyone could take power now."

"It takes little effort to guess that you wish for the honor, Fouché," the taiyoukai said, not caring about staying in the man's good graces. For three weeks, he had lived on the fringes of the city, sneaking in to gather information on Robespierre's personal vendettas and victims. It didn't matter that everyone had seen their leader using the Revolutionary Tribunal and the guillotine for his own purposes before, but Sesshoumaru had had an easy time convincing the ambitious Fouché to instill fear in the hearts of the other major players of the government that they were next on Robespierre's list. Robespierre had sealed his fate when he gave a speech only two days earlier that had implied he was looking to 'clean house' of any dissenters once again. The taiyoukai had rarely seen a government crumble so easily.

Fouché shrugged, still smiling. "I would be humbled to take on such a task," he said. He pulled at Sesshoumaru's sleeve. "Come along, my friend. No one will touch you."

He resigned himself, and they made their way to the center of the Place de la Révolution. He and Fouché did not need to push through the crowd this time - Sesshoumaru's companion was recognized as one of the men that had engineered Robespierre's downfall. The only reason they took so long in reaching the scaffold was that Fouché continually stopped to thank citizens for their support. The ripple effect of the Incorruptible's arrest had changed the faces of Paris - the most faithful of adherents had faded away, and a new, grateful class of people took their place. The fog of fear had lifted by a very significant fraction.

The guillotine itself looked the same as it did every time before - the knitters still sat in a row at the bottom of the platform, but their work was largely forgotten in their laps today. Extra guards had been posted, in case anyone decided to be heroic. Robespierre, with only his white shirt and cravat, stood at one edge of the scaffold. Dumas, the former judge of the Tribunal, stood at the other. Twenty men waited in between them - several of them were bandaged and crippled from their attempts to escape their own turn at the National Razor. Robespierre himself had tied cloth around his swollen jaw, which had shattered in a failed suicide attempt two nights before.

Despite the victims' sorry state, few of the men garnered the notice that was owed to the death of their tyranny. After so many weeks of the Terror - of fifteen, twenty or more victims every day for two, straight months - the crowd had grown bored with the executions. They cheered for each head lopped off, but barely paid attention in between. Beside him, Fouché seemed to be the only one keeping his eyes fixed on the platform. "Could have saved himself," he muttered with a smirk each time a head tumbled into the basket. "Fools, all of them. Should have listened to me."

The sun started to rise in the sky, and it was time for Robespierre to take his place beneath the blade. Fouché nudged Sesshoumaru in the ribs. "Look at that," he said, finally breaking his refrain. He wasn't looking at the fallen leader of the revolution, but at a young, thin-faced woman clothed in black on the other end of the platform. "Incorruptible, indeed! He has base instincts like the rest of us."

Sesshoumaru frowned and stared at the woman. "Robespierre's mistress?"

"So they say. Jacqueline Boucher," Fouché answered, looking back at the scaffold. Robespierre was being lowered onto his back with his hands tied behind him - he would see his death approaching with the falling blade.

The woman, Jacqueline, felt eyes on her - she turned and gazed back at the taiyoukai with an impassive face. Up on the scaffold, Robespierre let out a high-pitched scream - the executioner had taken away the bandage that held his shattered jaw together - but she did not look. Even the guards had swiveled around in their places to watch the Incorruptible die, but the woman and Sesshoumaru stared at one another alone. And then, just as her rumored lover was about to die, Jacqueline Boucher gave Sesshoumaru a slow, catlike smile.

"Armand!" shouted Fouché over the rising cheers of the mob. "Do you realize? This is our defining moment! It's our... Armand? Armand! Where are you going?"

"I have a prior engagement," he answered before plunging into the thick of the crowd. Across the way, Robespierre's supposed mistress disappeared into the masses.

"But you'll miss everything!"

Sesshoumaru didn't care. The tug in his chest and the acceleration of his heart had told him what he had waited for this entire revolution to know - Jacqueline Boucher was the long hunted shape-shifter.

The blade fell behind him and a deafening roar filled his ears as he began to give chase.

* * *

A/N: I love the French Revolution! It's like a fantastic soap opera of death and mystery and intrigue. :)

Anyway, there is a great mix of real and fictional characters in here. Sesshoumaru, Kagome, Bastien and (off-screen) Shippo didn't take the place of historical figures. Similarly, Jacqueline Boucher is a name I created for the shape-shifter - I looked very hard for the name of Robespierre's mistress, but he either didn't have one or was extremely discreet about it.

Since some of you like to know, here are the meanings of the names I chose for our cast of characters:

Armand means "army man" and Grosvenor means "grand huntsman".  
Aurelie means "golden" and Rousseau means "red-haired" (since she's supposedly Shippo's sister).  
Bastien means "revered", Girard means "strong spear" and Chevalier means "gallant" or "knight" (so his last name translates to "strong spear of the knight").  
Jacqueline means "supplanter" and Boucher means "butcher".  
Pierre means "rock".

As for the real people:

Joseph Fouché was a Jacobin that Robespierre didn't trust. And for good reason - Fouché really was part of the force behind his downfall. Fouché wasn't a very nice man in his own rights either. He slaughtered people in Lyon by shooting grapeshot into a mass of men who didn't agree with the revolutionary ideals. It was so bad - many didn't die, but were groaning, wounded in the streets - that some of the soldiers were physically ill. The Parisian government ordered him to use firing squads instead, along with the guillotine, and Fouché killed almost two thousand people before returning to Paris in 1794. Eventually, he went on to support Napoleon and took a series of offices in the new French empire. Napoleon grew to distrust him, just as Robespierre did - Fouché hadn't given up his intrigues or stopped spying and eventually conspired against Napoleon. At last, after temporarily gaining favor with the new King of France (whose brother he had helped send to the guillotine), Fouché was exiled.

René-François Dumas was the president of the Revolutionary Tribunal and helped send thousands of people to death during the revolution and Reign of Terror. He died on the guillotine along with Robespierre and 20 others.

Antoine Quentin Fouquier-Tinville lived for almost a year after Robespierre died. He even helped send Robespierre and the other 21 men to their deaths, but eventually he was brought in front of National Convention for his own trial. He claimed that he was only following the Committee of Public Safety's orders (much the same argument as the Nazis gave at the Nuremberg Trials), but the Convention didn't buy it. After 41 days of trial, he and several others were put to death on the guillotine.

Hope you enjoyed! Please review!


	12. 1805: Calais

A/N: Oh my gosh, it's been so long! A million apologies. I've been doing silly things like studying for and taking the bar exam, lol.

During my many nights of studying and worrying, I did have my spirits lifted by a couple fabulous artists with fan art for this story. Go give them some love and remember to remove the spaces from the links:

"Beside You in Time Sketches" (for the main characters of the Triberg chapter) by Hira-Akami - http :/ hira-akami . deviantart . com/art/ Beside-You-In-Time-Sketches-126281134

"Indian Nights" (for everyone's favorite chapter in Surat, India) by melanippos - http :/ melanippos . deviantart . com/art/ Indian-Nights-126428819

How gorgeous are they? I'm so lucky to have such awesome people reading my stories! Thank you! *hugs*

Many thanks to Ijin as well, who patiently reads through these chapters to make it that much better for you guys. :)

Beside You in Time

1805: Calais, France

The support beam snapped as he hit it, and the barn trembled. Resisting the urge to groan, he slowly got to his feet again and ignored how much it hurt to breathe. He could sense the cackling of his opponent before it came.

"What's the matter, dog? Tired already?"

"Only of you," he muttered, rolling his shoulders and brushing away the larger clumps of wet, rotting hay that had rained down on his greatcoat from the upper loft. He looked up at the rafters.

Jacqueline's face suddenly appeared out of the darkness above him. "There someone else you would rather be with?" she said, grinning.

He knew that she was toying with him - over the past eleven years, he would be given respites in their battles, which she would use to worm information from him. Jacqueline - for he had never learned her real name - was gifted at reading even the most impassive faces. He didn't need to reply to tell her the answers to her questions. He supposed that it was the way she compensated for her lacking in other areas - she had no talent at shape-shifting like her brother had had. He knew all of her faces and all of her forms by now. In return, she knew all of his secrets. In a way, she knew him better than anyone. Even Kagome.

He sighed. Especially Kagome.

Sesshoumaru decided to humor her, to buy a few more moments of time. "I would rather be with the Devil himself," he replied, looking around for any weapons he might use. Jacqueline had a rusted pitchfork, and she wielded it well enough to tell him that she'd had proper training with pole weapons. All he had was a short, worn blade and a muzzle-loader that only held one shot. He wasn't the expert marksman that Kagome was, and he couldn't risk wasting it.

"We're close. You could visit her," teased Jacqueline, swinging the pitchfork around in her hand with ease. "I plan to. After I'm done with you, that is."

He straightened his shoulders. "That seems to preclude the chance I have to see her," he said flatly, "since the only way you would visit her is if I am dead."

"I suppose that does make things difficult for you," she replied with a quirk of the lips. "Why you would want to see the one woman you've been fantasizing about seeing for the past eleven years is beyond me. You're setting yourself up for disappointment."

"The only one disappointed will be her," replied Sesshoumaru. He tried not to move a hand to his side, where the pain was so hot that he could feel it in his teeth, although he wanted to. It felt as if his inside were spilling out of him with each breath of air. "You have kept me from her for far too long."

Her face contorted. "Your dedication is revolting," she said, melting back into the shadows and signaling the end of their conversation.

The taiyoukai grabbed a disintegrating horse collar from the wall of one of the stalls a moment before she descended from the rafters like an owl gliding down for its prey. He caught the prongs of her pitchfork in the collar a second too late - he twisted away as he felt the rusted metal slice into him, but managed to hold on long enough to use his leverage to toss her to the other end of the stall. The barn walls rattled with the force of the hit.

The pitchfork's handle had snapped. Jacqueline grabbed the pronged bit as Sesshoumaru drew his knife, keeping the horse collar as his shield. She growled at him, but she seemed to be finished with her taunts. Lunging, the pitchfork was angled to finish the job it had started.

Blood was flowing, seeping into his shirt already, and he felt like he was moving slowly in comparison to her striking anger. He caught her hand anyway, and they tumbled together as their equilibrium failed. Another sharp, head-ringing pain shot up his spine as he hit another support beam. Dust rained down into their hair as they struggled with the pitchfork that was pointed at his heart.

It was inevitable that the barn would crumble under the weight of their battle, but it picked a poor moment. Sesshoumaru fell through the rotted wall first, landing on his back for the second time in as many moments, and it knocked the air from his lungs. The most he could manage was to roll over, pinning her with his body and knocking the pitchfork away as she spat in his face.

He registered the feel of cold metal against his ribs only a moment before she shot him.

If he had known what it felt like to have something so small as a bullet rip through his stomach, he never would have subjected Inuyasha to having his older brother's entire hand through his gut. He rolled away from Jacqueline, grasping at his wound as she stood up again. She was already covered in his blood and - embarrassingly, if he had had the ability to form coherent thoughts - holding his pistol.

He blinked up at her, still trying to catch his breath as she grabbed the pitchfork once again. "Looks like I will be visiting the miko after all," she said, smiling.

"She will purify you in a moment," he breathed, his words barely formed.

Jacqueline stood over him and lifted the pitchfork, the prongs pointing down to his chest. "Well, at least she'll be more of a challenge than..."

A spray of blood and brain matter exploded against the side of the barn before she could finish her sentence, and the sound of a rifle report rang through the clearing. Her forehead was adorned with a large, dark hole directly above her left eye, and the woman he had been hunting for eleven years crumpled at his side without another whisper as the edges of Sesshoumaru's vision began to fade.

The vibrations of hooves rippled through the ground as he struggled to draw in air - he was dimly aware that the breath he'd lost in the fall should have long since returned. By the time the two riders dismounted beside him, he was gasping again.

"Dieu," said a familiar male voice in French. His boots were pointed towards the dead shape-shifter.

"Deal with that later," came the quick response of a woman. Sesshoumaru could feel the soft edges of her riding cloak brush against his arms as she leaned over him. She was just a black silhouette against the white sky. "We need to get him back to the house immediately."

Sesshoumaru shivered as snow was packed into his wound. "Can you feel your toes?" the feminine voice demanded as they gently rolled him onto his side and her fingers ghosted over his back. "I don't see an exit wound. Damn. Can you feel your toes? Can you move them?" she asked again. "Just nod once."

He moved his chin to his chest once, falling back again when the effort exhausted him.

"He's already losing a lot of blood," said the man. "He's going to die."

"Not if you help me," she replied crisply, and they lifted him onto one of the horses. The woman swung up into the saddle behind him, and he could smell the recently fired rifle that she used to secure him in place against her chest.

He couldn't hold up his head, and it fell back against her shoulder. "Don't try to speak," she murmured, urging the horse forward. "Just in case you were so inclined, Sesshoumaru."

* * *

He had innumerable flashes of consciousness. At first, they were pure pain, wracking his body from head to toe. He could feel her hands pressing and searching into his wounds and hear her whispering to others. He had to be held down, which exacerbated the pain but prevented him from tearing into her with his claws and teeth, as injured animals sometimes do to their would-be saviors. He could hear the fox demon snarling at him as he fought.

The passage of time was not easily judged, but soon enough, he could feel his body begin to repair itself. The sharp pain faded into sustained aching, and the number of people in the room diminished. He was often delirious, seeing things that were not there. Only she was the constant, and whether her image was sometimes a hallucination or not didn't matter in the end, because the dream could be just as comforting as the real thing if he allowed himself to pretend.

Soon, even her image faded. He was able to slip into a dreamless sleep that stretched for days, punctuated only by sounds on the periphery of his awareness. Her voice filtered through the restful blackness of his unconsciousness, and her unintelligible words floated around him like little strings back to reality, able to be held onto when he wished. For a long time, he was pleased that she was waiting for him in the waking world, but eventually, he wasn't satisfied with whispers.

He dragged himself out of his deep sleep on a cloudy morning and found himself in a plush bed heavy with quilts. A gray, chilly morning had dawned outside of the window at the other end of the room, and she was standing by it, dragging a thick, wool blanket from the armoire and placing it around her shoulders. The light of the fire in the hearth danced across the face that was framed in the fashionable curls of the day. His voice rasped as he spoke. "Kagome."

She stared only for a moment before breaking into a brilliant smile and rushing over to him. "Sesshoumaru!" she cried. "Finally! I was so worried. Do you want some water? Are you cold? How's the pain?"

He listened to her voice and let her tuck the blanket around him. Her joyous rambling seemed so much more like the girl he had met in his father's tomb than the quiet, melancholy woman he had seen more recently. After taking several, long drinks of water to wet his vocal chords, he put a hand out to stop her. "I feel fine," he murmured. "But I would like to know where I am and how long I was asleep."

"For ages," she replied, pulling up a chair and sitting at his bedside. "We were so worried at first that you wouldn't make it. Your lung collapsed, you broke a couple ribs, and, of course, you lost a lot of blood. You had the inevitable infection despite all my precautions. The idea of bacteria just _completely_ escapes everyone in this place." She huffed and took his hand between hers. "Well, you can understand why I was terrified."

"They need to finish me quickly to finish me at all," he replied. He looked up at her. "But I am grateful that you are a good shot."

She grinned. "It was a good one, wasn't it? I've repaid you in full for saving me from the brother now."

"I believe that would be fair," Sesshoumaru said. He rolled his head to look out the window again. "What is the date?"

"Oh, you've woken up just in time actually. Three days until Christmas!" she said. "Which means you've been asleep for almost a month. You probably need some food, I would think. Hold on a minute."

She stepped out for a minute, closing the door behind her to keep in the warmth from the fire. Ignoring the pain in his side, he struggled to sit upright against the pillows of the oak, four-poster bed where he had apparently spent so many weeks. He pushed away several layers of bedding and his nightshirt to reveal the bandages firmly wrapped around a third of his torso. The redness of fading bruises still decorated many planes of his body, all which would have long ago faded if not for the shape-shifters' unique ability to cause more damaging injuries than normal. He damned them all as his hand went to his face, feeling the twin, parallel gashes that he'd received from Jacqueline's pitchfork.

"Those will be the worst, I think," murmured Kagome, as she closed the door again. She balanced a silver tray in one hand. "The other scars can be hidden so easily, but those will take forever to fade. I did try my best though."

"Superficial," he replied, only half-lying. "Not the worst physical reminders I've ever had of a battle."

"Chicks dig scars," she said with a smile.

"What do young fowl have to do with anything?"

She shook her head, laughing. "Never mind." She came forward and set the tray across his lap. "You shouldn't be sitting up at all with those cracked ribs, but as long as you are, have some soup. You've lost some weight, I think."

"Impossible. We remain unchanged. Not eating cannot harm me."

"Yeah, well, you look like Death warmed over, so you can humor me," she said, pointing at his tray.

He ate carefully - lifting his arms sent short shocks of pain down his sides. Kagome set about straightening up the area on the left side of the bed, glancing up at him every few moments to check on him. "You sat with me," he said, counting the number of books she transferred to a shelf on the other side of the room.

"Of course," she replied. "Do you think that anyone in this time knows how to fix a collapsed lung? Or that you don't bleed someone dry if they have a fever? I had to make sure you were okay, Sesshoumaru."

"And your husband didn't mind?"

She paused for a long moment and finally slid the book into place with a hard shove. "I didn't know if you'd noticed," she murmured.

"If I had not noticed the large ruby on your hand, I could not miss how his scent permeates everything in this house. Including you."

Kagome looked down at her hand, twisting the gold-set ring from side to side. "I did wait, Sesshoumaru. But it was three years, and I didn't even feel that you were close by anymore. When you said you'd be right behind us, I never thought you meant eleven years."

"I intended to return sooner," he said.

"I know." She set her mouth and looked back at him. "But I couldn't wait any longer. It wasn't fair to him, and I didn't want to leave again. I love him. And Bastien loves me, too."

He nodded. "I have no doubt of that," he murmured. "Does he know about our unique situation?"

"No. For him, the only name I've ever had is Aurelie, and I am just the little sister of his dear friend Pierre Rousseau. I like it that way. He'll never know, if I can help it."

Leaning back against the pillows, he let his spoon drop into the half-empty bowl of broth. "And when you don't age? What will you say?"

"I don't have to say anything. I'll take care of it the same way none of the servants have run screaming from this room while you were unconscious and unable to disguise yourself. Shippo is getting very good at putting lasting concealment spells on other people," she answered with a shrug. She sighed. "It might not be normal, but it's as close as I can get."

He remembered Ranulf - it was more than a century ago, but the same arguments he had used against the wolf demon came to the tip of his tongue now. He quickly swallowed them. He had promised not to interfere, and it was pointless - she was already married and, in her eyes, as completely bound to the Frenchman as she would be to a youkai mate. "I cannot fault your choice," he said instead. "You look well."

She appeared startled but blushed prettily, smoothing the long column of fabric that fell from just beneath her breasts and that hid most of her figure. "Thank you for understanding, Sesshoumaru."

He realized that she really did look quite well - she was moving with a grace and confidence that he remembered from long before, and she had already smiled more in the last few minutes than in the entire time since Salem. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself beneath the covers again and forget that he had woken up at all, but he forced himself to speak again. "We did not have the opportunity to speak at length in Paris," he said. "What have you been doing since Tortuga?"

She lowered herself into the chair next to his bed once again. "Are you sure you want to hear about that?"

"Why would I not?"

"Well, you seemed to have taken things a bit harder than I would have imagined," she said, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the bed. "I heard that you told the women of your castle to learn how to defend themselves. You let Shippo go free instead of executing him. I got the impression that it had something to do with me and what happened. Not to mention that you wreaked some major havoc on Roger Vane's pirate ship. I heard about it, you know. Every port was talking about it for weeks."

He tried to shrug, but it was too painful. "You knew I would kill him. Your letter said as much."

Her eyes widened for a moment. "The letter. I'd almost forgotten about it." Her hand passed over her forehead. "Those days are still rather a blur for me." Still, she was looking at him with a warm gratitude that made him delight in the lengthy death of Roger Vane - a measure of delight he hadn't felt during the actual act. "I'm sorry about what I said to you on your ship, Sesshoumaru. I was unforgivably harsh. I know it wasn't your fault."

He didn't tell her that he'd kept the letter - that it was tucked away, along with Tenseiga and Tokijin, where the wet and the air could not easily touch it. "Your anger was understandable," he murmured.

"You're quite understanding these days, Sesshoumaru," she said with the beginnings of a smile.

"And you are happier."

"I've changed for the better again, I'd like to think," she replied.

"Perhaps I have as well," he said.

Her smile broadened. "We have a little while until you can really move around, you know. You have time to tell me about everything you've been up to lately. And I have time to tell you about what I've been doing." She slipped her shoes off and lifted her feet to the bed, clearly settling in for a long conversation.

He looked at her bright eyes and nodded. "I have not changed in any way that matters," he warned.

"I'll be the judge of that."

"Of course," he replied. "Shall I begin trying to convince you of my better intentions in life? Or will you begin with your nauseating tale of wedded bliss?"

She laughed. "You start, and we'll go from there."

It became impossible to avoid her husband. Although Sesshoumaru managed to sleep for the large part of the next three days in between his long reminiscences with Kagome, the Christmas holiday bore down on him, forcing him to greet and thank the master of the house. Kagome led him to the front parlor where the spiced Yule log was burning and where the table had been set up for his own comfort for the meal. Her husband and Shippo had been waiting beside the fire.

Bastien Girard de Chevalier hadn't changed much in eleven years - he had regained the weight that the Paris prisons had taken away, but he had retained his military bearing, and his nose was just as prominent as ever. There were a couple streaks of gray in his brown hair, but he had hardly aged otherwise, despite lacking his wife's curse. He still gave the same look of longing to Kagome that Sesshoumaru had seen many years before, but now it was tempered with the air of satisfaction that a man had when he had achieved his most beloved desires and only looked forward to enjoying them for many years to come. Sesshoumaru was put right off his French-style Christmas pudding by the display of domesticity that he and Kagome put on at the table.

"My wife never did say why you were so close to Calais, my friend," said Bastien, towards the end of their holiday feast. "Was it to visit your two cousins?" He gestured across the table at Kagome and Shippo.

"I had some business here. I never knew that you had actually settled in this area," he replied.

"What luck that Pierre and Aurelie came across you on their morning ride, then," the other man said. "That highwayman would have robbed you of your life and not just your possessions. If only they had been a bit earlier, they could have saved both."

"I would never wish that fight upon them," murmured Sesshoumaru.

Bastien smiled. "Ah, but you would be in the hands of one of Napoleon's finest colonels if Pierre was with you. And you couldn't know it by looking at her, but Aurelie can defend herself quite ably as well."

The dog demon's gray eyes flickered towards Kagome. "I might have heard that," he said. "She is a marksman, if I remember correctly."

"One of the best I've seen," said Bastien with warmth in his voice, "but she is also a talented swordsman. I've been teaching her how to fence for some seven years now. She has bested me on a couple occasions."

"Rare occasions," Kagome interjected with a shy grin.

Sesshoumaru felt his teeth grinding together at the back of his jaw. "A swordsman as well," he said. He inclined his head at her when she met his eyes. "How unusual for a woman to be so conscientious of her own safety, and yet, how good it is that she not leave that safety up to a man's whims."

Bastien nodded. "When she asked for instruction, I was quite surprised," he admitted. "I hope my teachings are never used for their original purpose, of course. Aurelie knows that I will always be there to protect her."

The taiyoukai's eyes threatened to bleed red, and he looked down at his lap. "Of course," he replied.

The former commander shook his head. "Still, there might have been occasion for her to use her training on the day they found you. Pierre, we really need to do something about those dangerous men in this region. There are better ways to make a living."

Shippo lifted his green eyes to look at Sesshoumaru. The fox had strengthened Sesshoumaru's concealment spell with a touch when they had shaken hands in formal greeting earlier, but the niceties had ended there. They had barely acknowledged one another the entire meal. "There are some men too depraved to take the correct path, Bastien," he said, straightening his military coat.

Kagome cleared her throat, sending a short glare at the red-headed man that pretended to be her brother. "We should be more forgiving today of all days, Pierre."

The fox demon murmured something indistinct into his wine glass as he drained it.

"I would assume that the subprefect of the Calais district has other, more pressing matters to attend to than highwaymen," said Sesshoumaru.

Bastien shrugged. "It is my job to ensure not only that Napoleon has a functioning empire, but that the people in this district have a better life than what they have had in the past. We don't want recent history to be repeated, Monsieur Grosvenor." He put down his napkin. "As a part of that, I would like to offer to replace any property that you lost to the robbers, my friend."

Shippo spluttered. "Armand has enough money. I doubt my cousin wants _charity_."

"Whether or not that's true is of no consequence," replied Bastien smoothly. "It is not charity. It is the repayment of my debt to him for saving my life and for paying for the coach that spirited us away from Paris that day. I never had the chance to properly thank you for it, monsieur."

"My cousin is right," murmured the taiyoukai, ignoring the scowling fox. "I did not lose anything of importance. As for your debt, it is more than repaid with your hospitality during my recuperation."

"And you are welcome to stay as long as you'd like," said Bastien.

"I will not burden you with my presence for long," replied Sesshoumaru. "That is more than I should be asking."

He sighed lightly. "I wish I could convince you, but I saw immediately that you are a man firm in his convictions, even back in Paris. I suppose I must leave any settling of the debt to my wife's nursing skills. I confess that when we were at war during the Revolution, I was afraid for her life in the battlefront hospital, but I am now grateful for it. I have seen many fatal wounds, monsieur, and I did not think you would survive."

"Your wife," Sesshoumaru said, the words sticking in his throat, "is gifted."

Kagome's mouth opened in surprise, but she hid it carefully as Bastien reached for her hand. "I agree entirely," he said. "I have led a far more fortunate life than I could have guessed in that courtroom so many years ago, thanks largely to your assistance, monsieur. I hope you have fared as well?"

"I have achieved some of my purposes in this world. Others remain unfinished," Sesshoumaru replied vaguely. "But I have not been so blessed as you, no."

"Perhaps you should marry," Bastien said. "I have found that settles a restless man's heart more often than not. Something I try to convince Pierre of every day."

The two demons looked at one another, their eyes dark with different, angry memories. Kagome leaned towards her husband. "Bastien, perhaps they don't want to talk about that," she said gently. "Some men are not as suited to married life as you."

"You know many fine women who would make either one of these gentlemen good wives," replied the master of the house.

"I was married once," cut in Sesshoumaru, before Bastien could continue.

The others looked at him with some surprise. "Aurelie led me to believe you were a life-long bachelor," said Bastien.

"A life-long widower now," replied the taiyoukai, keeping his eyes fixed on his wine glass. "She was lost to me long ago, and I have no wish to replace her with any woman, unless God grants me a copy in every way."

Kagome caught her breath as her husband tilted back in his chair. "I am sorry for your loss, my friend. Forgive me. I see that she was your match," he said, as the long case clock in the corner began to chime the tenth hour.

"It's getting late," said the miko quickly, squeezing Bastien's hand. "Our guest still needs his rest."

Shippo huffed. "We should work on some of those reports anyway, Bastien. The war begins again tomorrow."

The tall, thin man pushed back from the table and got to his feet. "You're both right, of course." He bowed to his wife and his guest. "If you will excuse us?"

"I'll have some brandy sent in to you two in a bit," said Kagome mildly, as they left. "Alright. What was that business about having a wife?" she asked from across the table, as soon as the other two men were out of earshot.

"He will not bring up the subject again during my stay," replied Sesshoumaru.

She frowned. "That's the reason you said such a ridiculous thing?"

He considered her for a moment. "It also seemed to have brought the meal to a close. I was growing tired of their company."

"That's not very nice, Sesshoumaru. He's my husband. And Shippo is very dear to me," she said. "I was going to apologize for his coldness towards you, but now, I really don't see a need, if you're going to be rude."

"I don't want an apology. I understand his disposition. It is not often the exiled must sit at the same table as the exiler, let alone pretend they are kinsmen," replied Sesshoumaru.

She shrugged and rose to her feet, collecting the dishes. In her silk dress, with holly berries in her hair, it seemed unnatural that she should be doing such a menial chore. He reached out to stop her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Don't you have servants of your own now?" he asked.

"Force of habit," she said with a small smile. "Bastien doesn't like it either."

He withdrew his hand and stood up slowly. Underneath his borrowed clothing, the bandages stretched to accommodate his movement, even as his body protested. "You would not be my servant again," he said.

She stilled. "You mean, if I came with you?"

He nodded, taking the time to formulate his reply. "I am aware that I did not treat you well at times. I would attempt an improvement in that respect."

"That's nice to hear again, but you have to realize that I can't come with you, Sesshoumaru. I'm married. Happily so." She paused and came to his side. Snow was beginning to fall outside the window at the front of the room, melting as soon as it hit the ground. "And you didn't treat me too badly. Your cruelties were unintentional. I'd forgiven you long ago for those times. I've forgiven you for everything. You know that."

"Yes, I know," he replied.

She twisted her wedding ring and bit her lip. "And just because I married him doesn't mean that I don't want to travel with you again, but I can't. Not right now."

"You married him knowing that he will die before you. If you stay, you are hurting yourself."

Kagome turned to him. "You don't get it. It's worth it to me, Sesshoumaru. Even normal demons take mates with the knowledge that they might lose them at any moment. This is a real life; how real people live. Sometimes, you have to take chances."

"Our life was real."

Her eyes fluttered closed. "I know. It was dangerously real at times. But it wasn't enough for me."

A sharp pain went through his heart that had nothing to do with his lingering wounds. "And when you return, as I assume you plan to do, will it be enough? You were willing enough eleven years ago, despite what promise a future with this human male held for you."

"I do miss it," she murmured with a half-smile. "All those places we saw that were so beautiful and the people that we met that were so kind. It could be such an adventure sometimes." The smile faded away. "But sometimes, I hated how far we traveled from anything that felt like home. And I hated how you would disappear and keep secrets. I hated how alone I felt, even if I spoke the language perfectly. The times I felt truly happy were bright spots, but they were too few. That's what I mean, Sesshoumaru. That wasn't enough for me to be satisfied with my life, even if it was an exciting life to lead. This, here, is enough for me. I have friends. I have Bastien."

He remained silent, unsure of her answer and not wanting to ask again. She stepped closer to him, taking his hand in hers. He could feel the cold metal of her wedding ring against his skin. "But I do miss you," she added. "I will come back, Sesshoumaru. And I will never ask you to change, just so you know. I accepted who you were a long time ago. I just needed something different for awhile."

"You are on a holiday from me," he said.

Her brow furrowed. "No, I..." She stopped. "Well, maybe."

He remained silent, unsure of her answer and not wanting to ask again. "I think you're misunderstanding me. It's not like Tortuga," she said after a moment. "I don't want this life with Bastien to escape from you in particular, Sesshoumaru. I needed a break from the life you represent. While I've been away from you all these years, I've realized that this, with Bastien, is all that I can have. This is as close to a real, human life as I can get. This is what I needed, and I feel more like myself again. Does that make sense?"

"No, not really," he replied.

She smiled sadly. "I'm not sure if it makes sense to me either. I just know that it has little to do with you. You are the perfect Lord Sesshoumaru, and I knew that when we met in London. But there are some things that I may never get while I'm with you, and I needed to have them, while I still could. That means we spend some time apart, I guess. Who knows what will happen to us? I couldn't waste another chance."

"I understand your choice, as I have said earlier," said the taiyoukai. "I have no right to order you to travel with me when you would rather live this life."

She clutched at his hand. "But I do want you to stay, Sesshoumaru, because I will be ready to travel with you again."

"I cannot stay here," the taiyoukai said. "You are married. It would be inappropriate."

"Oh, I know. I meant..." She trailed off again and let out a soft chuckle. "I'm not sure what I meant there either. I'm getting all _confused_. I thought I knew what I wanted. And I do know, but maybe not with as much confidence as I thought." She shook her head. "It's hard to say what I mean to say."

"I will not go where you cannot find me," he murmured, extricating himself from her grasp.

She looked up at him. "You will? Where is that?"

"I have depleted much of my European resources in order to follow the shape-shifter in the past eleven years. I never stayed in one place long enough to settle upon another trade or business. I will do so now. Not in Calais, but I will always be available to you. And I will visit on occasion." He glanced around the room with its holly garlands draped over every available surface. "On Christmas Day, perhaps?"

Kagome frowned. "Just the one day?" she asked. When he gave her a firm nod, she sighed. "Then, you'll be farther than you say, I think. What will you do?"

"I have not decided."

"Bastien could..."

"No," he cut her off smoothly. "I have never required help before in this matter."

"Things haven't been going as well for you lately," she said, calling to mind the stories he had told her during his three days of convalescence. Although he had attempted to temper the harsh conditions in the tales of his wanderings, many of which included going without shelter or water for days in pursuit of Jacqueline, Kagome had realized the truth quickly. To his surprise, she had not concentrated on his lack of creature comforts, but on the loneliness she was convinced he felt. And while he had had a certain longing for company - for her company - during his travels, it disturbed him how easily she had picked out that solitude in his voice. "You can ask for what you need."

"I was fine," he said again, for the hundredth time. "I am capable of earning my own living, Kagome. Without assistance from Girard de Chevalier."

She sighed. "Alright," she murmured. "I wish you would let us help you, but I understand why you don't want to."

He shook his head. "Your husband may not know it, but he has already repaid me," he murmured. "You are becoming quite skilled, Kagome. I don't feel as if I have to be as preoccupied with your safety when I am gone. A sharpshooter already, and now, he has made you into a swordsman."

"I thought that would kind of bother you. You didn't like it when Ranulf taught me just the basics, and this is even worse," she said. "Some other man - a human, no less - teaching me what you're best at? I'm surprised you didn't hit the roof."

The ire he had felt earlier boiled up again in his stomach, but he pushed the feeling aside. "I should have been the one to teach you," he said, "but I am pleased that you have learned in any way possible. At this point, you are probably more dangerous to the shape-shifters than I am. You proved that by killing the shape-shifter I had hunted for eleven years without success."

"I came up on her when she was kind of preoccupied, Sesshoumaru. It was luck. You're still the Killing Perfection," she said with a smirk.

For some reason, from her, the sentiment was unwelcome. "Yes, I am very good at destroying lives," he replied darkly.

Her eyes widened. "That's not what I meant, Sesshoumaru." She grasped his wrist. "You're very good at protecting what is yours."

She probably wasn't listening to her own words - she surely was not his. Of course, he had not done a very good job of protecting her either. He carefully extricated himself from her grasp and shook the grim thoughts off before they could infect his stolen moments with her. "Yes, of course," he agreed mildly. He crossed to the table and plucked an unused knife from the place setting. "Show me your swordsmanship."

"With a butter knife?" she laughed.

"Considering my condition, I would not risk arming you with a fork," he replied dryly. His free hand ghosted over the two scars on his face as he put the knife into her hands.

"I wouldn't hurt you," she said with a tilt of her head.

"I know," he replied. He gestured towards himself. "Come and attack me."

She settled into the beginning stance with unconscious ease. "This is such a bad place to do this. Something is going to get broken," she said with a smile, balancing most of her weight on her back foot.

"I certainly don't care," he replied.

"You're incorrigible," she laughed. "Now, get ready."

As soon as she lunged forward, he could see how accomplished she had become. Her movements were fluid and practiced but didn't lack the strength necessary to get the job done. For all of the unjust anger he felt towards Bastien Girard de Chevalier, he was apparently a gifted swordsman and a good teacher. Sesshoumaru knew that he possessed only the first quality and not the second - Kagome would not have flourished like this under his tutelage. Again, the taiyoukai felt a grudging appreciation for the man that was keeping Kagome from her travels with him.

He easily blocked her attacks, of course - no human could move as quickly as a demon, and she was being more cautious than necessary for the sake of her furniture and for his health. "You are very good," he said.

"It doesn't feel like it at the moment," she complained, as he blocked another parry.

He caught her wrist and spun her around. The knife fell the floor as she was pulled up against his chest. "Perhaps not good enough quite yet to take me on as your opponent," he murmured over her shoulder. "But I hope that you do not hold back like that when you are truly practicing."

She turned her head and looked up at him. "No," she answered. Her silky rope of hair was unraveling from its delicate coil and falling across his collar bone. "But it seems I'm not as dangerous as you thought."

"You could kill me now, if you wished," he said. She was so close, and she smelled so familiar and comforting. He took a surreptitious breath to inhale the scent of her hair, instead of burying his nose in her neck, as he wanted to do. "You have been practicing your _other_ skills, I would hope?"

"Naturally," she replied.

"Then, I will continue to practice my own swordsmanship, and together, we will make a formidable team. It is two against two now." Slowly and reluctantly, he released her wrist and let it fall back to her side.

She kept close to him as she turned to face him again. "I hadn't thought of that. I suppose it is." She frowned suddenly. "Unless they come after just one of us while we're separated."

"We have already determined that you are capable of protecting yourself," he murmured. "As for myself, I have been neglecting the opportunities that you have taken advantage of. I will learn how to use firearms more accurately. They seem to be fast becoming the preferred method of killing. I have had no reason to engage myself seriously in their study before, but it seems they force themselves upon me." He gestured to his hidden bandages.

"You have no idea." Her fingers brushed over his wound, still sensitive, at the base of ribcage. "In my time, there are bullets that explode inside the body. There are some that rip through the body so fast that they leave holes the size of an orange. Some rip through thick sheets of metal. They have..."

"Hush," he murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We will get to those weapons in time. I will concentrate on what I can learn at this moment. Perhaps I will join your Emperor Napoleon's forces."

"Then, you might go very far away from me," she murmured.

"I travel quickly, if you should need me." He paused again, watching the flash of panic cross her face. "It will not be a large risk for me to take, Kagome."

She sighed, looking up at him. "I know, but you really could have died this time, Sesshoumaru. And, as you have often reminded me, we're not absolutely sure what can kill us and what can't. It pains me every time I have to send Shippo off to war, and it's why Bastien decided to take this job as subprefect," she said. "Even if those awful kinds of bullets and weapons don't exist yet, please don't forget that humans are getting ever more efficient with the ways they kill one another. And remember that Napoleon eventually loses. He doesn't die well, Sesshoumaru. I want you to come back to me safe."

"I will come back, but I am leaving for the time being."

"Well, you can write, in the meantime," she said with a shaky smile.

He couldn't stop himself from lifting his hand to her cheek and brushing his thumb across her soft skin. He wondered how often she had said words to the same effect to her husband or to the fox demon when she had sent them off to the front lines. And he wondered whether her wish for his safety was more akin with her wish for Bastien's or for Shippo's safety. "I will write," he promised.

She seemed as if she wanted to say more, but just as her mouth opened to speak, he was forced to let his hand fall and step back. When she looked askance at his retreat, a footstep on the creaky floorboards outside the room alerted her to what he already had sensed. "Still awake, my friend?" Bastien asked, stepping into the parlor. He carried a fresh candle, and Sesshoumaru realized that many of the others in the room had burned down their wicks.

Kagome bent over and picked up the fallen knife. "We were talking about years past," she said. The lie tumbled off her tongue with ease - she must have gotten used to the mountain of untruths she had had to give to him over the years. She lifted a hand up to her head. "But my impossible hair has come free. I think that's a sign for me to go to bed, Bastien."

"Of course, my dear," he replied.

She flashed them both a quick grin. "And I think I'll let the servants take care of the dishes tonight," she said, dropping the knife back onto the table. She dipped a small curtsy. "Merry Christmas to you both," she said.

The two men bowed her out of the room and caught each other's eyes as they straightened. "Was there something I could do for you?" asked Sesshoumaru after a short pause.

"May I join you?" Bastien asked, his face serious.

"Of course," he lied. He moved to one of the two armchairs sitting in front of the fire and waited for the human to take the other.

Bastien stared up at the holly wreath hanging over the hearth. "Two meetings between us and two lives saved, my friend," he murmured. "It seems that my wife is a good luck charm for us both."

Over the years, he had become accustomed to answering Kagome's unasked questions, knowing that she would only pester him if he didn't. He was not, however, as inclined to speak freely with her husband. He remained silent, looking into the fire as Bastien shifted restlessly. The former commander seemed to be deciding upon something, and Sesshoumaru would not fill up the pregnant pause with chatter, as Kagome would do.

He finally settled into the chair, although Sesshoumaru could smell the anxiety that flowed underneath his seemingly relaxed posture. "You know," began Bastien, "Pierre wouldn't let me meet Aurelie for some time. He was so concerned for her, and I endured such rigorous questioning about my character until he was satisfied that I would not upset her, even in the slightest. He took such care before introducing us that I almost feel that I loved her before I met her. Surely, a woman so beloved and protected by her brother is a rare and wonderful creature."

"Or deeply troubled," muttered Sesshoumaru.

Bastien almost smiled. "The thought had crossed my mind, of course, that she was some horrific curiosity Pierre sought to protect from the cruel world." He shook his head. "But when I met her, she was pure beauty in all respects."

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. "In _all_ respects?"

The smile broadened in memory. "Yes. I am not blind to her differences, my friend. I noticed how exotic she looked from the moment we met, but Aurelie has a way of looking past those things that might set you apart." He touched his large nose and laughed softly.

"And you did the same for her," said the taiyoukai.

"I know that is not her sole, unique quality," said Bastien. "Beautiful as she was, it took me some time to recover from meeting such a woman. You called her gifted, so you know. She could already shoot a fly out of the air, and she was far more educated than you would guess of a farmer's daughter. And, of course, she speaks at least one foreign language that I have never heard before with her brother. A language I have heard you speak as well."

Sesshoumaru glanced up at him and saw the severity in his face. "That is something you must discuss with your wife."

Bastien's expression softened again as he shook his head. "You misunderstand. I have complete faith in Aurelie. Asking someone for the knowledge that they deliberately keep from you is futile, my friend. They usually have good reasons for keeping their secrets. I trust that she does, and I would never ask her or anyone else to speak of them, unless by choice," he said. "I was a military man, as you remember. I am accustomed to having secrets kept from me."

"Then, what is your purpose in bringing up such a matter? Surely, it is not such a troubling thing that three cousins speak one language, even if it is different."

"I know it's not Russian. That's all that matters," Bastien said, smiling faintly. "Even then, I would not care. Only my superiors would. The Russians are not quite defeated yet, as you well know, but I am certain that Aurelie's loyalties lie with France."

Sesshoumaru fell back to his silence, considering the bearing of the man across from him. In some ways, he had looked more sure of himself in front of the fatal jury in Paris than he did at this moment. The seriousness of the military had suited the human male. His smiles, which still made his prominent nose all the more noticeable, seemed to be reserved only for his wife and for uneasy situations. He had been smiling quite a lot that evening. "If you have a question to ask me," he said at last, "then, ask it."

"I sat down with the object of learning more about my guest," said the other male. "Instead, I have talked about myself. Forgive me, but you must understand that everything I have said tonight, especially considering the debt I feel that I still owe to you, was sincere."

"I do not doubt it," replied Sesshoumaru.

"Then, you will know why the question I have avoided asking for so long is such a difficult one to ask, when you hear it," he said. He looked back into the fire for a moment, a frown deepening the lines on his face that Sesshoumaru had not noticed before. "Aurelie loves me."

Sesshoumaru scowled. "Yes, I am aware of that."

"I must ask you," continued Bastien, as if the taiyoukai had not spoken, "how you managed to have her love _you_ even more?"

Whatever he had expected, it was not that. Sesshoumaru leaned against the chair's back and stared for a moment. "I am uncertain of your meaning, since I do not think that she does," he said slowly.

The other man turned to face him again. "Aurelie refused to become my wife for three years after we left Paris," he said. "She waited for you for that long, and only when it was clear that you were not coming back for her did she agree to marry me."

"She is my cousin," Sesshoumaru said. "Nothing more."

Bastien shook his head and gave him a wry smile. "I do not care if I am the second choice for a woman so beautiful and generous, monsieur. And you, I know, are a great man. She speaks of you with admiration, and I have seen nothing that doesn't support that. You saved my life, after all."

"And what do you expect me to say?" said Sesshoumaru. "Aurelie's reasons are her own, and that is only if you're correct in measuring the depth of her feelings. She loves more freely than you or me. You misjudge her sentiments for her long-absent cousin."

"Aurelie speaks so fondly of you," replied Bastien, "but from what Pierre has told me..."

"Ah," interrupted the dog demon. "I see. You are trying to understand why your wife could possibly love a man that is, by her brother's account, the precise opposite of her husband."

"I wouldn't say precise opposite," said the other man, raising an eyebrow. "Neither does Pierre."

"I won't ask what our supposed similarities are," muttered Sesshoumaru. He watched Bastien for many moments. "Very well. I still believe that you should ask your wife, but I will tell you the only thing that I know. Aurelie and I have suffered through many trials together. We have suffered together even when we have been apart. I know that Aurelie would never wish the circumstances of our attachment upon anyone, least of all her husband. And while she and I might share that bond beyond what she can share with any husband, she shares more with you. Do not seek the love she has for me. It will only make the both of you miserable."

Bastien sat in silence, studying the taiyoukai. "You are a better man than I thought, Monsieur Grosvenor," he said finally.

Sesshoumaru frowned and turned to the fire, letting its light color his eyes their natural color. "I am better for her sake. Not my own."

Kagome's husband stood up slowly. "I thank you, monsieur, for your honesty. May I ask one more question of you?"

"Yes," replied Sesshoumaru, not begrudging him this time.

"The wife you spoke of at dinner," he said, "was it my Aurelie?"

"Aurelie," began the taiyoukai with a small, ironic smirk, "is not and never has been my wife. She is only yours."

Bastien gave a solemn nod and bowed. "Thank you, monsieur. I will leave you to..."

"Wait," said Sesshoumaru. "I have a question of my own. It is of a personal nature."

The former commander sat down again. "Ask, by all means. You have been forthright enough in your answers that I have no shame in mine."

"Why do you not have children with Aurelie?"

For the first time since they had met, a flash of pain passed over Bastien's face. "Not for lack of wanting one with all of our hearts," he replied quietly. "God has not blessed us with even the hope of a child in this house. Although, I suppose that's better than having a child snatched away from us in his youth."

Sesshoumaru remembered Rin. "There is no greater pain than losing a child," he agreed.

"It would have warmed this cold house," said Bastien. "Aurelie is alone so often with only the servants for company. It will be even more difficult when we leave this place, where she has made friends, when I take up a higher position in the government. With the loss at Trafalgar, Calais is no longer at the center of the emperor's plans, and we must go elsewhere. A child would soften the loss of what has become her home." He sighed. "I answered your question freely, monsieur, but I do ask that you not discuss any of this with my wife."

"It weighs heavily on her heart, I would imagine," Sesshoumaru murmured. Kagome had always loved the children in the many places they had lived.

"Yes, it does," said Bastien. "When I first met her, she was not the joyful woman you see today. Pierre was much the same. Perhaps you saw them then, but they have never spoken of it to me. I always had the impression that they had both lost someone dear to them. It is only when the impossibility of children comes up in conversation that Aurelie reverts to that sadness she had all those years ago. I do not like to see it in her face."

"And I will never hurt her by mentioning it," said the taiyoukai.

"I thank you again for that, monsieur."

There was a long moment of silence, until Sesshoumaru lifted his eyes to the subprefect's face. "I would have you call me Armand," he said, stretching out his hand. "We are kin, after all."

Bastien gave a short laugh through his nose. "Yes, we are," he replied, reaching across and grasping Sesshoumaru's hand in his.

* * *

A/N: Just a couple notes on this one. First, a subprefect is a governor of sorts over one of the sub-districts of France. There are 100 districts (called departments) and 342 sub-districts (called arrondissements) of France right now - in Napoleon's time, of course, that number was a lot more variable, depending on what he controlled at any given moment. Calais is the town closest to England in France, so it was a rather important place to be subprefect back when Napoleon was planning to invade England.

Second, the Battle of Trafalgar is mentioned - it was the greatest British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars and effectively stopped Napoleon's plans to invade England (and thus made Calais a lot less important). He never recovered from the loss he took to his French navy. Of course, the British suffered the loss of Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson in the battle - he's now regarded as one of Britain's greatest heroes. You can see his column with a statue of him on top in London's Trafalgar Square, which is one of my favorite places on Earth.

You'll hear more about the Napoleonic Wars in the next chapter, if that's your cup of tea. ;)


	13. 1812: Moscow

A/N: Awards time has come and gone again (awhile ago, actually, since they're starting up for the 3rd quarter - I was stuck on this chapter for too long)! This story had more nominations between Dokuga and the IYFG than any other time for any other of my fics that I can recall in recent history, and it actually picked up a few awards against some stiff competition.

At Dokuga, it won 2nd place for Best Romance.

Over at the IYFG, this story won a whole slew of awards:  
1st Place - Best Romance: Other  
1st Place (tied) - Best Characterization (Sesshoumaru)  
2nd Place - Best AU/AR  
2nd Place - Best Action/Adventure

Yay! BIG hugs go to everyone that nominated, seconded and voted! :D

Also, I'm so very, very fortunate to have some more fanart for "The Once and Future Taiyoukai". Janey-jane did this fabulous piece called "Touch: SessxKags" - http :// janey-jane . deviantart . com/art/ Touch-SessxKags-139919689 (make sure you remove the spaces). Thank you again, chica! ;)

And thanks to Ijin for looking this over!

**Beside You in Time  
1812: Moscow, Russia**

He was smeared with soot and sweat, looking more like a blacksmith than an officer of the Imperial Guard. Thirty other men worked with him, made identical by the ash sticking to their skin. They were all coughing up black, slimy mucus - it was the only thing that seemed to stay in their lungs. The air was sucked from their chests by the fire, just as the moisture was leeched from their flesh. The smell of blood filled Sesshoumaru's nose as his men's skin cracked in the dry heat, but no one had the energy to complain.

Kitai-gorod district was burning. Shops, homes, ale-houses - it was all crumbling into ash as the air grew thick with smoke. Sesshoumaru had lost count of how many times he had been fighting fires in this campaign. All across Russia, every time the French Army had come close to regaining its footing, the Russian infantry had set fires to throw them back off again. The earth was scorched, and the French troops were denied food, shelter and clean water. Coming to Moscow had been a relief after all their losses to starvation and disease - they were so much farther than they were ever supposed to have gone, and no one but the Emperor cared that the city had emptied before they arrived.

And then, the fires had started once again. Sesshoumaru had never been so willing to let humans fend for themselves.

Most said that it was the Russian Army again - they had even captured a few supposed saboteurs - but he wasn't so convinced. He had seen his own men setting carelessly contained fires to cook and to aid in the looting that they saw as their right after such a long march. And there were the scraps of the population that hadn't evacuated with the rest of the city - like ghostly wraiths, they moved from house to house in order to escape the French, and a glimpse of them was always startling.

The simple fact was that this city was no longer a prize to be won, whatever Napoleon thought as he sat in the Kremlin, as flames licked its walls. Sesshoumaru knew, even as he fought it, that the fire would consume everything. Rain was coming, but it was too far away to make much of a difference. Moscow would burn. All this work - this entire empire - might come down to a simple war of attrition.

"Captain!"

The taiyoukai turned at the call. Four, relatively clean men approached the line of firefighters, trying to shy away from the threatening heat. "What is it?" he barked.

"We have come to relieve you, sir," said the lieutenant at the front. "You are to appear before the emperor immediately."

Besides an arch of his brow, there was no indication that a lowly captain being called to the presence of the Emperor of the French was anything but an everyday occurrence. "Is there a reason you aren't coming to replace three other of my men as well? Why are there four of you?" he asked, handing off his water bucket.

The lieutenant shook his head. "I think she suggested it, sir."

"She?"

"The woman who came to see you, sir."

Sesshoumaru glanced up at the towers of the Kremlin, visible from its place just a few streets away. The fires had clogged his senses - he heard only the roar of the flames and the crumbling of buildings; he smelled only smoke; he tasted only ash, and even in the pit of his stomach, he felt only the dull pain of knowing that he was on a losing campaign. Still, for all that, he knew he would have felt her presence. It couldn't be Kagome, which left only one other possibility. He wondered how the countess had found him.

He sighed and began the short trek to the tsar's former palace, trying to wipe some of the soot from his face with his sleeve before realizing the fabric was smoking. A quick assessment revealed that his leather boots were crisp and flaking off to the touch and his hair was singed in several places. His skin healed too quickly to be scorched, but he almost _hoped_ that he looked frightful. Napoleon wouldn't be moved to see him, but perhaps some of his more nervous generals would realize that staying in the Kremlin was a fool's errand.

He knew that he was tiring of the Grande Armée if he was hoping to convince others to give up on a battle.

Finding a gap in the red brick ramparts, he passed the guards and entered the Kremlin. He had been here two days ago to prepare security measures for Napoleon's arrival, but he hadn't taken the time to appreciate the scope of the tsars' vision of what the seat of an empire should look like. The Kremlin was a complex - palaces, cathedrals and an entire arsenal - for the comfort and power of the tsar. Awash in white and red, with fields of golden, Orthodox crosses jutting up into the sky, it was meant to awe and humble. However, the orange glow of the inferno beyond the Kremlin walls was far more terrible and once again, the home of the tsars was dwarfed by his other concerns.

He mounted the stairs to the Terem Palace, not bothering to ask where Napoleon was. The tsar's chambers would have been at the top, and so that was where the emperor would go too. As he climbed higher, he could see the fires of Kitai-gorod as well as a half dozen others spread out across the city, all converging in on the Kremlin. The firelight pierced the windows, making the gilded ceilings glow and flicker. His long shadow quivered and danced as he moved into the center of the palace.

"There you are," said a familiar voice once Sesshoumaru had arrived in the antechamber to the Gold Room. "I was starting to wonder. You look like a mess, you know that?"

"Brandt," greeted Sesshoumaru flatly, deciding not to give an answer to the insult. The guards at the door fidgeted as he paused beside the fire demon instead of going inside immediately. "What does the countess want with me?"

The other demon grinned. "The countess? Well, I know things didn't exactly go well at our last parting..."

"They went perfectly well," snapped the taiyoukai.

"Right. Of course." His smile spread further. "Why don't you stop stalling, go in and find out what she wants, then?"

Sesshoumaru looked at the two sentries, both of whom had their hands on the doorhandles. "You should go in, Captain," said one with a pleading smile. "They're waiting."

They opened the doors for him without waiting for an answer, and he obligingly stepped through with Brandt on his heels. The Gold Room covered with gilt lions and eagles that posed on the walls amid sprawling, shining vines, while saints surrounded by golden halos looked down from their places between the triangular arches of the ceiling. Everything was set against a vivid red, matching the velvet that covered every chair. High-ranking officers were in every corner of the room, and Napoleon Bonaparte was sitting in the grandest of the chairs - the one meant for the tsar. But it was the woman that stood beside him that caught Sesshoumaru's attention.

He remembered her pseudonym just in time. "Aurelie?"

Kagome gave him a ghost of a smile and a bow of the head in return as Napoleon got to his feet, sending a glare in Sesshoumaru's direction. "Forgive me, General," said the taiyoukai, bowing deeply to his commander and emperor. "I was surprised to see my cousin so far from France."

"So was I," muttered Napoleon. "I didn't know that you were related to the Baroness Girard de Chevalier, Captain."

Sesshoumaru blinked at the title bestowed upon his long-time companion. "I suppose I did not have the chance, General," he said slowly, glancing at the rigid form of Kagome out of the corner of his eye. She looked no more like a baroness than she usually did - worse, in fact, with her windburned cheeks and somber dress of black. She must have just arrived on horseback, although he still did not know why he could not sense her presence, even when she stood so close.

His mind skittered to a halt as realization broke. It didn't matter that she hadn't said a word yet - he knew why she had come. Her black silk dress trimmed in crepe had told him everything he needed to know. Women only wore black for one reason in these times, as a visible mark of their quiet pain and their forced withdrawal from society. A widow's weeds were all the more conspicuous if she was the only one wearing the color.

It surprised him how fervently he hoped that he was wrong - that she had arrived in the few months that it was required to wear black for the death of a relative, instead of the year that was required for a husband's passing. Even if Sesshoumaru had never completely warmed to him, Kagome didn't deserve to suffer through the early death of her husband. Not after everything else she had survived. But another look at her face extinguished his wish as soon as it began to burn. If he didn't know that the curse had made it impossible, he would have thought she was paler and thinner than when he had seen her last, two years before.

Her eyes met his, and it might as well have been said aloud - Bastien was dead.

"Your Imperial Majesty," Kagome began, looking to Napoleon, "we should begin. I am certain that you have other things you wish to deal with today."

The French emperor's eyes flashed, but he acquiesced readily enough. "Gentlemen," he called, garnering the attention of his commanders, "step out of the room for a minute. I have personal matters to discuss with the baroness and her cousin and ah..." He glowered at Brandt, who had not even glanced in his direction.

"Her escort," Brandt supplied with an easy grin.

He eyed the fire demon suspiciously. "Leave us, gentlemen. I will tell you when our business has concluded," murmured Napoleon as the assorted generals of his cavalry, infantry and artillery began to file out, taking maps and plans along with them. Brandt closed the doors behind them, turned the lock and slid into the nearest velvet chair.

"Your Imperial Majesty," Kagome started again.

"You said that you would never use this against me," muttered Napoleon, cutting her off. "My distrust was not misplaced, Baroness."

Napoleon was not so short as the English liked to believe - although full foot shorter than Sesshoumaru, he still could look down on the miko. But Kagome didn't quail under his glare. "I said that I would never use it for my own, personal gain," she corrected primly. "And I'm not. I'm here to save my cousin's life."

The taiyoukai's brow ticked upwards. "Aurelie?" he murmured, barely audible to anyone but her. She caught his eye and shook her head - a silent plea for him to keep his questions to himself.

The emperor's eyes were slanted towards Sesshoumaru. "His life?" he echoed, taking in the taiyoukai's stature. "I am no fool, Baroness. I have always known what the captain is. I never thought of a demon as needing the protection a human girl could provide."

If Sesshoumaru was surprised that the Frenchmen knew of demons, Kagome was decidedly not. "The Order does not know everything about demons, Emperor," she said without missing a beat. "Nor do they know everything about humans. Particularly this one. You shouldn't let them give you so much counsel."

"He's in my army, isn't he?" replied Napoleon. "I am sure there are others. What general in his right mind would relinquish a demon? The Order does not command me. I allow the demons in my army to fight below their ability in return for all those privileges any man who serves me would have. I know the Order would not approve of that."

"But you are Emperor of the French because they approve of _you_," said Brandt from his place near the doors. "Imagine what would happen if you suddenly lost their favor. Harboring a demon alone would do that, so what do you think they'll do to you if they know your _real_ secret?"

Sesshoumaru watched guilt flash across Kagome's features as she snapped, "Brandt!"

Bonaparte's face darkened. "You used my secret to gain an audience with me. Why should I be surprised that you are using it to extort me as well?" he asked.

"I have _no wish_ to do that," Kagome muttered, glaring at the fire demon. "I am here to ask a favor of you. You _will_ lose him." She pointed to Sesshoumaru. "I am asking that you let him go willingly, instead of forcing him to start a new battle in this war. Brandt has no tact, but he is right. If the Order finds out that you've used a demon for your own purposes, they will withdraw their silent support of your rule."

"But, if I refuse, you will expose me to the Order," replied Napoleon flatly. He shook his head as she opened her mouth to respond. "Do _not_ lie to me, Baroness."

Brandt sat up and grinned. "The Alliance has given us permission to convey the particulars of your past to the Order," he affirmed, "which the baroness is well aware of."

The French emperor fixed his stare on Sesshoumaru. "And you? You have been silent, but I must know if you condone what your Alliance is doing to me. You have served under me for seven years. Is the Order correct? Do the demons wish for the downfall of mankind?" He paused and squared his jaw. "Am I to be forced to stand up against the Alliance at the cost of everything?"

The taiyoukai frowned deeply. "I believe that you have the frailties of most humans in your vanity and self-importance, but you also have admirable conviction. I would not have served under a man - human or demon - for whom I lacked all respect. However, I do not know this secret with which the Alliance threatens you," he said, "and so, I cannot answer whether the choice they present you with is worth the cost."

For the first time, Napoleon appeared surprised. He glanced at Kagome and Brandt in turn. "I would have thought one of your cohorts would have told you," he said.

"If Aurelie vowed to keep your secret, she would not have told me," Sesshoumaru replied. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flutter of a smile on Kagome's face. "You should have had faith in her." He hesitated. "And the Order is incorrect. Aurelie alone proves that not all humans should be destroyed."

The emperor's sharp eyes took in the soft blush on Kagome's cheeks. "I see why they're after _you_," he murmured.

"And you," she replied quickly, "if they ever find out. We're both traitors to our kind, in the eyes of the Order, or rather, you would be, if they knew. Armand is honorable, but Brandt will not hesitate in revealing you to them."

Brandt nodded once, not bothered by the insult. "The Alliance has decided that the death of a demoness that has willingly slept with someone so close to the Order is an acceptable loss, if you do not give us what we want. We will not mourn the loss of your mistress."

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened slightly, but Napoleon spoke first. "And my child? He is only two years old."

The fire demon leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and his eyes narrowed. "Well, he isn't really your child, is he? You never accepted him as yours. You're married to someone else. You have another son by this wife of yours, and you don't need two, do you?" His eyes flickered to Sesshoumaru. "The bastard child might as well not have a father."

"That's not how it works for humans," Kagome jumped in. She looked at the emperor, who was almost trembling in fury, and her expression softened. "I know you didn't know what she was. I know you had to make a choice for their safety and yours when you decided to hide your mistress and the half-demon child. I'm sorry we're coming to you with the threat of undoing that, Your Imperial Majesty."

Napoleon clenched his teeth. "What, exactly, do you want? For me to release him? Fine, he is discharged from my service," he ground out.

"It's not as easy as that," Brandt drawled, standing up at last. "Hell, we could have convinced him to _leave_ with us, if that's what we wanted."

"We need the Order to hear from someone they trust that Armand is dead," whispered Kagome. "We need them to call off their hunt for him."

Brandt hissed at her unnecessary sharing of information, but there was no chance to berate her. A frenzied knock rattled the doors to the anteroom, and one of the generals called, "Your Imperial Majesty! The fire has reached the walls! We _must _leave. It is too close to the black powder stores!"

"That's them," Kagome murmured. "The Order set fire to Moscow and encouraged the Russians to flee, so that they would have a clear path to Armand. They are ready to destroy you and so many others, all for their mindless ambition to wipe the earth clean of demons. Armand has done nothing to deserve that," she said, the lie rolling from her tongue with ease.

"Telling them that he is dead could endanger me just as much as refusing your demand," he said.

"The Alliance would not act against you. You would have made a friend in a very powerful group." She stared at Napoleon. "So, will you tell them?"

The Emperor of the French hesitated only a moment. "If I have the opportunity, yes," he said. He glanced over at the fire demon. "You cannot destroy my son's life if I have no chance to say anything."

Kagome gave him a thin smile. "You will," she assured. She sent him a shrewd look. "I believe your refusal to give up will become legendary, Your Imperial Majesty."

Napoleon blinked at her. "Very well," he agreed as another frantic knock echoed through the room. "I suppose that I must take my leave of you." He bowed to Kagome and Sesshoumaru in turn.

The fire demon threw open the doors, letting the emperor pass into the phalanx of generals. "You'd think they'd never seen a few flames before," he said with a venomous grin.

"Brandt." Sesshoumaru's warning was frigid with contempt, and Kagome let out a small bark of a laugh at the contortions of the other male's face.

"This is not your rescue mission," Brandt said.

Kagome watched Sesshoumaru shed his military jacket. Half it had been burned away already, and his white waistcoat and shirt underneath were blackened. "And now, he's rescued from the failures of the French Army," she said dryly. "A job well done, since I did most of the work. In case you hadn't noticed, most humans don't respond very well to threats. Certainly not Napoleon. He stuck it out here for far longer than he should have, didn't he?"

Sesshoumaru nodded in answer to the rhetorical question. "Will this campaign of his be a failure?" he asked, pausing before he laid the jacket across the back of a velvet chair.

"The beginning of the end, at least. He'll leave Moscow soon enough, but the army is nearly gone. Unfortunately, Napoleon committed one of the classic blunders," Kagome replied. "'Never get involved in a land war in Asia.'"

"Moscow is in Europe," he replied flatly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I _know_, but it's still true."

"Are there many of these geographically misleading 'classic blunders'?"

"Well, you should never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line," she rattled off, the corner of her mouth twitching with amusement.

He searched his mind for a long-forgotten word - one that she uttered often when he did not or could not understand what she was talking about. "Movie?"

She laughed again, and this time, it was bright and warm. For the first time since he had come into the room, she looked like she had had life breathed into her body. "Yeah. I can't believe you remembered that."

There was a loud clearing of the the throat, and Brandt reasserted himself. "I would hesitate to break up this touching reunion, except that I don't care," growled Brandt. "We probably _do_ want to get away from any possible explosions involving gunpowder, however. Just a thought."

Sesshoumaru wanted to throttle the fire demon for the way that the smile dropped from her face. "I thought it was just a few flames," she said, brushing past him into the now deserted antechamber.

"Stay if you'd like," scoffed Brandt. "I'd do just fine. I don't know how far your gift goes. Would you survive?"

He strode on ahead, and Kagome waited for Sesshoumaru to come up beside her before setting off after him. "We've gotten to the point where we'd be slightly put out if the other one was blown to bits," she muttered, gesturing towards the fire demon's figure in front of them, "but that's where the concern for each other starts and ends. Actually, it's progress from what it was."

Sesshoumaru wasn't sure if she was trying to assure him. Her expression was a a mask of indifference once again. "Did you travel with him from France?"

"His idea," Kagome replied. "I was going to wait until you came home from Christmas."

"I haven't been to your home in more than two years," he said. He paused and glanced down at her widow's weeds. "But I would have returned, if you had asked."

"I know," she said quickly, obviously unwilling to let him continue on that train of thought. "Anyway, I'm here. When Brandt said that you were being hunted by the Order again, that kind of made the decision for me. He couldn't find you on his own, but he could find me. And when he found out what I knew about Napoleon's mistress and child, he _insisted_. He said you haven't talked to anyone from the Alliance in ages."

He shrugged. "It has been some time," he said.

"I wouldn't imagine the countess is happy about that," she murmured.

"If she was so displeased, she would have accompanied her cousin here," he said. "Or to your home."

Kagome glanced at him. "She wasn't there."

Sesshoumaru shrugged his shoulders again. "How did you find me? Did one of my letters actually reach you?"

She lit up once more. "You've been writing? I thought you'd stopped," she said.

"Mail is unreliable in a war," he muttered, "but I never have revealed troop movements to you or anyone."

"Of course." They followed Brandt out of the palace and into the smoky haze of the Kremlin courtyard. "But I followed you the same way we've always found one another. I sensed you. Just your general direction, but _this_," she said, waving her arm towards the conflagration pressing up against the walls, "isn't exactly forgotten. Tchaikovsky writes an overture about it. Somehow, I had a feeling you'd be right in the thick of it."

She wasn't smiling, but he could feel the dark amusement rippling through her. "I cannot sense you in return," he murmured. "Not in any way beyond what I sense from any other human."

Kagome nodded. "That's good," she said. "It means it worked."

Brandt stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, _Armand_."

"What is it?" Sesshoumaru snapped, forced to turn away from the miko.

"Those yours?" drawled the fire demon, nodding towards the gate.

The taiyoukai looked up to see several men fanning out across the courtyard. "Those are not French uniforms. They aren't Russian either," he added. "Do you have horses nearby? Or are you willing to go with a more _conspicuous_ exit?"

"I can't leap tall buildings in a single bound, Sesshoumaru," said Kagome.

He stepped towards her. "I can carry you," he said, frowning as she edged away from him.

"The reason you can't sense me is the reason that's not going to work," she whispered, lifting her hand. Her fingers glowed a soft pink.

"Excuse me!" Brandt started.

"Is this permanent?" Sesshoumaru asked, ignoring the fire demon.

A gentle smile passed over her lips. "No."

"Hey!" They turned to Brandt, who was scowling at them. "For the sake of all _non_-immortals present, can we get the horses and leave? Fire, I can deal with. The Order? Well, that's why we need _you_ to take care of them." He pointed at Sesshoumaru.

The taiyoukai looked back over his shoulder. "They do seem to have swelled in number," he commented.

"This is just the advance guard," muttered Brandt as he hurried off, with Sesshoumaru and Kagome trailing after him. "We're going to be seen, no matter how we leave."

"Then, we just have to ensure that any Order member that sees us does not survive to tell the others," Sesshoumaru replied. He glanced at the woman beside him - the urge to touch her was still strong, despite her warnings. "Kagome?"

"I couldn't exactly bring my rifles in while meeting Napoleon," she said, "but if no one has stolen them, they should be with the horses. And I have one pistol under my skirts."

"Of course she does," muttered Brandt, prompting a sneer from the miko.

The horses and the guns had not been stolen, although the animals were wild-eyed and nervous. Kagome mounted up, soothing her mare with a steady hand, and handed each male demon a loaded rifle. Sesshoumaru looked at it with interest. "British," she supplied. "Muskets are going the way of the dinosaurs."

"Perhaps I trained with the wrong army for weapons," murmured Sesshoumaru.

"These load slower, so don't use it unless you have to. But they're more accurate." Kagome shrugged at his dubious expression. "Invent the revolver, and we'll have some real fire power. Until then, you're still a demon, and they _know_ you're a demon, so you might as well use those skills while you can."

Brandt finally calmed his horse and swung himself up into the saddle. "For God's sake, you talk like two, old women!" he muttered. "Let's _go_ already."

Sesshoumaru urged his horse forward, frowning at the fire demon as he passed. "This is not the best tactical position. We must go quickly and not be drawn into a prolonged fight. Kill everyone you see, or Napoleon's message will mean nothing."

There was a quick agreement, and they spurred the horses into the open. It was not far to the gate, but six men already stood in their path. One of them shouted a warning before Sesshoumaru bore down on him, picking him up by the throat and snapping his neck as he threw him over the head of the horse and into the wall of a cathedral. Kagome fired her pistol three feet from another's heart, and he fell to the ground. The smell of burning flesh told them what the fire demon had done to his first victim.

A tall human with sandy blond hair shot at Kagome, grazing her horse's flank. "Kagome!" called Sesshoumaru as her mare reared up in pain. The dog demon swerved, planting the butt of his rifle into the blond man's temple.

The noise was already drawing the rest of the Order members to the small maze of paths winding through the Kremlin. Kagome managed to control her horse just as another twenty men arrived. Sesshoumaru heard her swear and understood - the fire was approaching at their back, and the only way out was towards the river, where the Order assassins had entered the complex.

Kagome fired again from another pistol, and the closest man went down. Brandt had let his concealment spell slip, and the pale-eyed demon was drawing the most attention as he let small fireballs explode from his fingertips. Sesshoumaru's horse fell to its knees beneath him - he didn't need to look to see that it had been shot. He rolled to the ground.

It was the miko's turn to call for him. "You're a _demon_!" she shouted. "Act like it!"

He stood, buoyed by her voice, and let his own concealment spell slip away. Soot and filth still covered him, but the blaze of his red eyes attracted the notice of every human in the alley. They all took an unconscious step back, and he had to hold in the temptation to smirk. Kagome shouldn't have worried, he realized. He could so easily cut every one of them down.

His hands glowed green, and his poison whip snaked out from the ends of his fingers, following the arc of his arm. The hiss of acid filled the air, overwhelming the crackle of the inferno. Brandt and Kagome kept a careful distance, incinerating or shooting anyone that managed to escape Sesshoumaru's reach.

A bullet tore through the sleeve of his shirt, hitting the ground in front of him with a hollow thud. Kagome answered it once before yelling at him to move. "They have marksmen!" She sounded as if she could hardly believe it.

"We must leave!" Brandt shouted. He was holding his arm, and blood seeped from between his fingers. "This wasn't the purpose of my mission!"

"But it was! We can't let them get back to their leaders," Kagome argued, putting her rifle to her shoulder and shooting. The ricochet of the bullet off the white stone echoed down the alley. "Damn! Sesshoumaru, they're too far up!"

He turned his face up to the golden domes atop the cathedral towers. "Take cover," he growled.

"And then what?" Brandt snapped, moving to the wall directly beneath the sharpshooters.

"Make sure none of them come down alive," he replied. He smiled, startling them both, and jumped up to the nearest ledge. His claws buried into the stone as he climbed, moving as fast as he could.

The first one was easy - he was leaning out to see his prey, unaware that it was coming to meet him. If he saw the white, blurred form of the dog demon, he did not realize its danger until Sesshoumaru was on the window ledge, dragging him forward over it and letting him drop. The scream that he let out as he hurtled towards the pavement was enough to alert the two other marksmen, but the second didn't have the chance to think about retreat before he joined his friend on the street below.

The third gave him pause. He had left his perch - probably before the second sniper hit the ground. Sesshoumaru leaped across the gap between towers and swung himself through the window. The smell of gunpowder filled his nose, and he saw the signs of hasty loading of ammunition.

Certain that the sharpshooter could identify him, Sesshoumaru sped down the winding staircase, his senses flaring. He could smell the human's terror and sweat. Beneath his feet, he felt the powder that had been spilled as the marksmen tried to load his weapon once more.

He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, his rifle pointed up to where the dog demon must descend. The distance was too short, and the human's reaction was too slow - his gun was clattering at the other end of the cathedral's transept before he thought to pull the trigger. Sesshoumaru's claws dug into the loose skin around his neck and pressed him into the tiles, letting droplets of blood pool onto the marble. Still, he managed a raspy, "Devil!"

"If you believe that I am the Devil, you are about to be surprised," snarled Sesshoumaru. "How many of you are there in Moscow?"

"Enough to take care of you and your Lilith," the human growled back.

"She is no demon."

The sharpshooter smiled, and Sesshoumaru saw blood on his teeth. He had hit him harder than he intended. "We know. She'll still suffer for going against the natural order."

His vision glowed red, and, with a hand under the human's chin, he snapped his neck. "She already has," he muttered, standing up.

"Sesshoumaru?" Kagome stood at the end of the nave, her pistol in hand. She didn't spare a glance for the dead man on the cathedral floor. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Humans," he answered. "They are deceptively simple to kill."

"So you say," Brandt grumped, emerging from the shadows. "There are a lot more outside. This is how they win, you know. Superiority in numbers alone. Obviously, it's not _skill_." He gestured towards Sesshoumaru's kill.

The dog demon scowled at the implied slight. "If any one of them has seen us and survives, Napoleon's message will not only fail to help us but will doom him, as well."

Kagome pursed her lips. "They won't trust him if they know he's lied," she said.

"Perhaps we can lend credibility to his message," Sesshoumaru suggested. His eyes swept over the miko. "But you will have to end the spell that prevents you from touching youkai for it to work."

Brandt snorted. "Oh, I'm _sure_ that's..."

"Shut up, Brandt," Kagome interrupted. She looked back at the dog demon and stretched out her hands, letting them flare pink for a moment. "It's a barrier. Because our immortality is a result of a wish on the Jewel, I thought that I could manipulate its effects, just like I could for the Jewel itself. I never learned how to protect the Jewel from detection - I never had the chance - but it seems to have worked. I wasn't sure until you confirmed it though." She sighed. "But there's a catch. It's exhausting enough to hold this barrier up, but releasing it leeches all that energy away. It's held so close to the surface for so long that it's like a dam bursting when I let go of the barrier."

"You don't want to be close either," said the fire demon.

Kagome rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like 'barely singed' as Sesshoumaru shook his head. "It must be done. I will carry you," he said.

She nodded. "Alright. Go to the other end of the church." She pointed to the entrance. "That should be far enough."

The two males, not wanting to be touched by her miko energy, followed instructions and walked down the center aisle towards the back of the cathedral. Brandt's steps were quick, and his face was flushed. "She will not intentionally harm you," Sesshoumaru said, when they had reached the last pew.

"Right," he said, so blandly that the dog demon wasn't certain if Brandt was being sarcastic or not. His fidgeting calmed down, however. "Listen. There's a small village about two day's ride from here that Kagome and I stayed at. She knows where it is. The farm where we stayed has a large barn. I left your orders there, tied to a rafter, just in case. There is a spell that makes it impossible for anyone else to read them aside from you, but I think you're heading back to Europe."

"And where are you going?" Sesshoumaru asked. He looked back and Kagome, who had tucked herself into the east end of the cathedral and behind the altar in her attempt to distance herself as much as possible. Women were not supposed to cross that boundary in an Orthodox church. She would be aware of that, he knew. Her sense of decorum had been overwhelmed by her wish for their safety. Or perhaps she thought that the dead body had already tainted the sanctity of the place.

"Your plan has some merit," grumbled Brandt, "but it won't work without some sort of distraction."

Kagome radiated a soft aura of pink light as Sesshoumaru asked, "And you intend to be that distraction?"

"I thought I made it clear," said the fire demon. "I'm supposed to get you out of Moscow safely. If something happens to me, that's an acceptable loss for the Alliance as long as you survive and agree to what we ask of you."

"You are second in command," said Sesshoumaru. "In what way is that an acceptable loss? You are exchanging yourself for someone that has not been in contact with the Alliance for years. Why didn't the countess send someone else?"

"Because there is no one else."

Sesshoumaru turned, missing the burst of light at the other end of the cathedral. They felt the sizzle of the power, like stepping out into the midday sun after a morning in the cool shade. "Everyone is dead?" he asked.

"Not dead. Not _everyone_," he muttered. "But we're losing. Most of the survivors have gone into hiding. They don't even tell us where they are." He heaved a sigh. "There's talk of a traitor. It's the only way they could know where we are and how many assassins to bring. They're too efficient."

The taiyoukai clenched his teeth. "And what is the Alliance's plan for me?"

"Last strike of the sword before the end," Brandt said with a shrug that belied the gravity of his words. "The countess has held on longer than she should have, but she's finally agreed to go underground like the rest. But you don't have to worry about that, do you? Even the priestess could hurt them, if she could stand to kill her own kind."

"She has done so this very night."

"They were shooting at her. That's different than what you have done for us in the past," he said. "And what we want you to do for us again."

"I will do what is necessary. So will she."

"Who gets to decide what is necessary?" Brandt asked.

Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed. "You are being deliberately difficult. You traveled with her," he said, barely holding back his disdain. "I am sure it was not without incident. You must know what she is capable of."

The fire demon met his eyes. "Mostly? She cried."

"She lost her husband. It is expected. She is still human, after all." He paused for a moment. "This is not the worst to befall her."

"In your mind," replied Brandt. "I might not know a lot about humans, but it's easy to see that she's trying to be strong in front of you. She doesn't care enough about me to have done the same while we were together."

The dog demon looked again to see Kagome slowly coming towards them, clearly unsteady on her feet. "Do you know what happened to him?" he asked. "He was young, even for a human."

"I asked," he murmured, following Sesshoumaru as he strode towards Kagome's figure. "She said that it was a stroke. Do me a favor and don't mention it to her." He caught the dog demon's appraising stare and rearranged his face into a smile. "Unless you _like _crying women."

The taiyoukai reached Kagome just before she fell to her knees, wrapping his arms around her frame without a second thought. "Are you alright?" he asked, ignoring the way the residual spiritual energy made his nose burn and his hands hot where they touched her.

"Mmhmm." She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder as he lifted her up. "I feel like I've gone twenty rounds with Naraku," she murmured.

"Can you remain awake for a few minutes more?"

Brown eyes blinked up at him. "Yeah," she slurred. "Just remind me that I should never do this again."

He nodded. "Willingly," he answered. His thumbs moved in circles against her skin as he looked back at Brandt. "We must go."

"So I've been saying," said the fire youkai, moving towards the double doors at the end of the aisle. "What do you think? I'll go out the front, and you can leave the way you came in? There'll be enough of them by the river to carry off your ruse."

Kagome sucked in a breath, twisting in Sesshoumaru's arms. "They'll kill you," she protested. "We're the ones they can't hurt."

Brandt gave her a wide grin, and his eyes shifted to the taiyoukai. "What's necessary, huh?" He put his hand on the door. Both demons could hear the two dozen humans on the other side - they could smell the tension as they waited for their quarry to reappear. "By the time you get up there, I should have them distracted."

Sesshoumaru nodded once and turned, holding Kagome tightly as he sprinted back to the tower stairs. Her arms went around his neck, and he could feel her mouth pressed into the curve of his neck as she turned to watch the cathedral doors open. The reports of rifles echoed through the building as Sesshoumaru began to climb the spiral staircase, taking two at a time.

He didn't pause at the top of the stairs. The sounds of the fight down below had grown more frantic in the few moments it had taken to scale the tower, and he launched himself through the window at an angle where he was sure to be seen. Shouts floated up to them as they skimmed overhead, and they caught a glimpse of how brightly Brandt burned as he cut a swath through the mob. Sesshoumaru heard Kagome's soft prayer for the fire demon's safety next to his ear just before a few bullets whizzed around them.

Her fingers tightened around his shoulders. "Are we going to have to let ourselves get shot for this to work?" Her voice was soft with fear.

"They cannot hurt us, remember?" He landed in the middle of the cobblestone road and glanced back to see several men pursuing on foot.

"Of course they can!" she cried as Sesshoumaru cut left, propelling himself into the air again. "It might not kill us, but it still hurts like hell!"

The wall that ringed the Kremlin came into view. "I thought you were supposed to be physically exhausted," he muttered.

"Well, I'm _sorry_. Visceral horror seems to have crowded it out."

He snorted. "Prepare yourself to be wide awake, then," he said, rising over the Kremlin rampart.

Between the Kremlin and the Moskva River sat a strip of land about several hundred feet wide. Thirty men stood in the brown grass within rifle range of where Sesshoumaru left the wall. Unlike the sluggish despondency descending upon the French troops still in Moscow, these men had been primed for battle, raising their guns within a second of spotting the taiyoukai. A bullet screamed its way over his shoulder. Another whipped through Kagome's hair, slicing off strands as it went.

"Him!" Kagome cried, pointing towards a man that had them in his sights.

Sesshoumaru understood and veered towards the assassin, trusting the miko's judgment of his skill. The man stood steady as the taiyoukai came towards him, aiming carefully, instead of rushing through the shot as his comrades had done with the first volley. The genius of Kagome's choice struck Sesshoumaru as he approached. This man was careful - his claim to the kill would be trusted - but he was also overconfident in his abilities. His cocky grin reminded him of Naraku in the moments before his destruction.

The gun went off, and it was perfect. A spray of blood shot up, silhouetted against the fiery sky, and Kagome let out a sharp scream. Sesshoumaru's body hovered for one, breathless second before he began to fall in a downward arc. A shout of triumph rose from the men just before the demon and miko plunged into the center of the icy Moskva River.

Their heavy footsteps as they ran to the riverbank were muffled by the water rushing into Sesshoumaru's ears. He still held Kagome - her dress drifted freely around his hands. She didn't seem to notice that they were submerged. Her grasp had shifted to the theatrical graze on his shoulder. Bubbles escaped her lips in an unmistakable sigh of relief when she realized what he had done, and his certainty in the plan was bolstered.

Wrapping one arm around her waist, he began to swim downstream. They would search for the bodies, of course, but the river was swift - sooner or later, they would come to the conclusion that it had swept the corpses away. It was uncomfortable to deny his natural inclination to breathe, but as long as he could resist the needless urge for air, the Order would mark him down as dead.

They made it to the outermost tip of the river's right-angle curve and slowly lifted themselves from the water, wary of the torches in the distance. Kagome sank into the mud and retched, bits of the Moskva spilling out of her mouth. "Add that to the list of things I'm never doing again," she croaked.

"Willingly," he breathed. "We need to keep moving. I swam downriver for the distance we could cover, but this is where they will look for our bodies."

He knew that she must be exhausted - the adrenalin was wearing off, and she began to regain that hollow, haunted look. Still, she pushed herself to stand and teetered only once. "Do you think he's alright?" she asked, looking back at the fiery city.

From the distance, it was almost beautiful - the sparks rising and the soft glow of the homes, stores and lives burning to the ground. "Brandt is more concerned with self-preservation than most," he answered.

"We shouldn't have let him stay behind," she murmured, turning to him and lifting her sodden dress as she climbed up the embankment.

"It was necessary."

"We were forced into it because of Napoleon. We should have just come in and gotten you out of the city." She huffed. "Hindsight and all that though, I suppose."

Sesshoumaru nodded. "But I am now a ghost. As are you."

"Not for long, if we're going to start killing off members of the Order. We'll be visible again soon."

"I will take the advantages that we have," replied the taiyoukai. "We will go after the head of the snake first."

"After a nice, long nap?" asked Kagome. She stepped closer to him and brushed the torn edge of his sleeve. The cold river water had washed away the blood, leaving only a pink smear. "How's your arm?"

He moved the cloth out of the way, showing her how his skin was already knitting itself together again. "I will be whole again shortly." He stooped and wrapped both arms around her frame, lifting her once more. "You are not well, however," he said, glancing down at the thick, black circles under her eyes.

"I can walk," she protested half-heartedly.

"Not if we want to cross any measurable distance," Sesshoumaru replied.

She let her head rest against his shoulder, her easy surrender revealing her exhaustion. "Fine. Be that way," she murmured, shutting her eyes.

Sesshoumaru turned away from the river and the city, ignoring the drag of his soaked clothing, and began walking west. Brandt had underestimated the power of a dog demon's nose - he didn't need to ask Kagome for the location of the village where she had stayed with the fire demon. He would keep to the shadows and the forests, and by the time they reached the place, the miko would feel well again. Then, they would continue going west, back towards France and the first of their targets. And it was 'theirs' - Sesshoumaru knew that Kagome would not allow him to fight the Order alone, even if he wanted her to remain behind.

He was doing this for her, if he was honest with himself. Brandt and the Alliance had given him Kagome and gained an assassin in return. He hadn't even argued with the demands of the Alliance or with Brandt's assumptions that he would be glad to take on this futile, last play. Kagome had told him many times that there were no demons in her future - Sesshoumaru had accepted it, just as he had accepted all of her other accurate prophecies. Time, he found, was a stronger opponent than any he had fought before. For the first time in his life, Sesshoumaru had willingly given up the battle, and under normal circumstances, he would have fought Brandt's insistence that he take it up once more.

But the Alliance had brought Kagome back to him, and he found renewed purpose burning within his chest. The shape-shifters would come to them eventually, but they needed more than that to overcome the past one hundred and twenty years of near-constant separation. One hundred and twenty years! Her absence from his side was longer than her presence before that. Still, with her weight in his arms, he felt at peace for the first time in an age. The continual ache of his body had ebbed away when she had let down that barrier in the cathedral. He knew it was the curse, but the comfort of her proximity was too satisfying to dwell on the reasons for it.

Just as she began to relax in his arms, she said without opening her eyes, "Sesshoumaru."

"Yes?"

"I don't want to repeat what happened in Salem," she said with a sigh.

"Or Tortuga," he replied, wondering if she had read his thoughts.

"I don't want to go through..." She paused and looked down at her lap for a moment before trying again. "I'm not leaving you again for any human. Too painful."

He nodded, squeezing where he held her at the waist. "Kagome," he began.

"Don't say you're sorry," she interrupted. "I knew what I was getting into." Her eyes filled with the frantic tears that came from utter exhaustion.

"Rest," Sesshoumaru said, before she could start sobbing. "I will wake you when we reach the village."

He felt a few, hot tears seep through his shirt sleeve. "Sesshoumaru," she said again. Her body was becoming pliant with approaching sleep again, and he had to strain to listen to her mumbled words. "I think we might be friends."

Sesshoumaru looked down at her and saw the large, ruby ring that glittered on her left hand as she clutched weakly at his waistcoat. "Yes," he murmured, "I believe we are."

88888888888888888888888888888

A/N: This chapter gave me SUCH trouble. *headdesk* Sesshoumaru and Kagome did not want to play nice. Brandt (who is far more like me than I care to admit) grew surlier and surlier in response with each passing version. Argh.

Anyway - a few historical notes:

1. Napoleon was pretty much done after this campaign. He lost so many men that historians are squabbling about it to this day, but it's estimated that the French Army lost about a _half million_ troops! The Russians did too, actually, but since they were _in_ Russia, they just picked up everyone they could find to repopulate their army. The French, meanwhile, had a complete breakdown of their supply train, causing mass starvation and a deadly lack of supplies, such as winter clothing. At the end, the cavalry was only as such in name - the horses were all dead (and usually, eaten). The invasion of Moscow eventually allowed the coalition of nations against Napoleon to defeat him and send him to exile on the island of Elba. Although, he did come back and wage 100 days of war, which ended in his infamous defeat at Waterloo to the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon ended his life in exile on the island of Saint Helena - some say that he was poisoned by arsenic, but it's more likely that he had stomach cancer.

2. Napoleon Bonaparte was a HUGE womanizer. It's said that he truly loved his first wife, Josephine, and even mentioned her on his deathbed. However, she began having affairs while he was away at war - it broke his heart, and he decided to fight fire with fire, collecting a number of mistresses along the way. (He eventually divorced Josephine because she was infertile, leading to his purely political marriage to Marie-Louise in 1810, who did give him a son in 1811.) He had several children by these mistresses. One, Jules Barthélemy-Saint-Hilaire, never revealed his mother's name. Jules was also never officially recognized as one of Napoleon's children (although two others were recognized by the emperor as his children).

3. The name given to Kagome by the assassin - Lilith - is one with an *extremely* complicated history. There are many tales of who she is and what she has done. One of the most common things said about her (although not by all religious traditions) is that she was evil and spawn/lover/acolyte of Satan. The most famous characterization of her in the folkloric, Christian tradition is that she was the first wife of Adam (and sometimes, the mother of Cain), who left Eden because she was unfit for it. She is frequently said to have given birth to a host of demons. Not a very nice label for Kagome, obviously.

Other notes:

1. The 'classic blunders' line of Kagome's are from "The Princess Bride". (And actually, they stole the bit about a land war in Asia from a speech Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery gave to British Parliament in the sixties, although it's also sometimes attributed to General MacArthur's advice given to JFK.) If you didn't know that, good grief, you need to go watch it. Now.

2. Yes, Kagome's newly discovered power of concealing her whereabouts from the other immortals will come up again later.


	14. 1824: Vienna

A/N: Dokuga has finished its voting for the 3rd quarter, and this fic won first place in Best Portrayal - Sesshoumaru! Additionally, it won third place in Best Characterization (for Kagome) in the IYFG 3rd quarter awards! Woot! Thank you so much, everyone! :D *hugs*

When you're away for so long, you tend to collect news, I guess. Or, in this case, fanart! INSANE AMOUNTS OF FANART, OMG. I LOVE IT! Seriously, you should look at every piece here, even if they are numerous, because these artists are *awesome*. (In an attempt to prevent FFN from screwing these up, I replaced the dots with [dot], so change those out to be successful.) Here goes:

This story got another TWO gorgeous pieces of fanart by the talented yukimiya. One for the Tortuga chapter - http://yukimiya[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/SessKag-Tortuga-146619883  
And another of some of Kagome's many outfits over the years - http://yukimiya[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/BYIT-SKETCH-Kagome-147007338  
It also got a piece of fall-down-beautiful fanart by YoukaiYume - http://youkaiyume[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/SessKag-Could-be-Friends-150605378  
(YoukaiYume, by the way, is selling prints to benefit charities for Haiti earthquake relief, so check out her journal while you're there!)

Also, "The Once and Future Taiyoukai" has a great fanart by new fan risemboolranger3190 - http://risemboolranger3190[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/As-Fate-Would-Have-It-146537786  
And there are some lovely sketches of the couple done by tae - http://tae-[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/SessxKag-Sketches-149999145  
And a full-color, gorgeous drawing of Kagome and Sesshoumaru, also by tae - http://tae-[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/SessKag-Close-Proximity-150139756  
AND, a bloody (literally) and beautiful drawing of Sesshoumaru begging for Kagome's life by janey-jane - http://janey-jane[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/SessxKags-Save-her-151179718

One of my Christmas fics, "Gifts of Silver" inspired a whole bunch of lovely concept sketches from Healing-Touch (my favorite is human!Jaken, lol):

http://healing-touch[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/Gifts-of-Silver-Kagome-148493979  
http://healing-touch[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/Gifts-of-Sliver-Sesshomaru-148494235  
http://healing-touch[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/Gifts-of-Silver-Sota-and-Jaken-148494499  
http://healing-touch[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/The-Paper-Mulberry-shop-1-148494826  
http://healing-touch[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/The-Paper-Mulberry-shop-2-148495062  
http://healing-touch[dot]deviantart[dot]com/art/The-Paper-Mulberry-shop-3-148495345

Additionally, the fanfiction of this fanfiction (Ijin's "Besides" story - check it out if you want all the little in-between chapter goings-on!) has its own, gorgeous fanart from Nysrina - http://dokuga[dot]com/gallery?func=detail&id=1943

Thank you, you guys! Everyone else - go and give them some major love. They totally inspired me to finally push through my writer's block. Really, looking at this list makes me feel happier and more loved than I have in ages. *hugs her lovely artists* I'm really floored by this amount of work when I've been so neglectful of ya'll. Here's hoping this will ameliorate that a bit - so, onto the LONG overdue chapter!

**Beside You in Time  
1824: Vienna, Austria**

The twelve years since Moscow had been fraught with secrecy. Not from each other - if anything, Sesshoumaru more readily told her of their plans and their goals. In being left out of her life for so long, he had learned to include her in his. But they were a lonely pair; they were separated from the world by their mission against the Order, which required discretion and subtlety - two things at which Kagome was never particularly gifted. The world of Napoleon crumbled, and Europe began to rebuild itself, taking scraps of what the French Emperor left behind, but Kagome and Sesshoumaru saw little of it. They moved too fast these days. They struck down their enemies quickly and retreated to small hamlets, where no one cared about much except the next planting season. It didn't leave a lot of room to witness the upheavals of history in the making.

So, she was especially thrilled to be here tonight - a premiere to end all premieres.

She gripped Sesshoumaru's arm when the bass began to sing, filling the hall on the strength of his voice alone, rising over every tenor and bass that joined him moments later. The music swelled, and the women began their powerful harmonies, weaving in and over the two male leads.

"Are you alright?" he murmured, needlessly quiet as the orchestra charged on through the score.

"Yes," she breathed.

She knew that the taiyoukai was giving her a questioning look, but she found it was impossible to explain. Kagome hadn't even listened to classical music that much when she was young and mortal, and although _Ode to Joy_ was instantly recognizable, she had had even less occasion to listen to a classical piece that had traditionally been used as a Christian hymn. And yet, her heart felt as if it was about to burst within her chest. It felt like coming one step closer to home - a concert like this would be just as much at home in her modern times as it was here.

With one notable exception, of course. Her eyes flickered to where Ludwig van Beethoven stood, conducting with sweeping movements that made his wild hair grow even more untamed. On one side, the four soloists faced the overflowing hall's audience, belting out their parts with all the gusto of their conductor and composer. On the other side, a second conductor demurely directed the orchestra in the correct tempo - noticeably different from where Beethoven was in his score. "Do you think he hears it in his head the same way it's played?" she asked, nodding at the completely deaf composer.

"He wrote it," Sesshoumaru replied softly. "I would imagine it is similar."

"I hope so. I can't imagine it being any better than this," she said, glancing at him. "I think we might just have the best seats in the house."

Sesshoumaru glanced down at where her legs dangled over the edge of the catwalk suspended some thirty feet above the stage. They were hidden from sight - vaulted panels of scenery hid the choir and the back of the percussion section from them, while the thick, velvet curtains and scrim hid most of the audience. The musicians didn't think to look up into the darkness above their heads. "Just make certain that you keep your shoes on," he warned. "That would probably give our position away."

She laughed silently and nodded, tucking her feet beneath her and setting her long, wooden case across her lap before returning her attention to the concert. She let its fleeting pleasure wash over her, pushing aside the worries of _after_.

The job would be easy, of course. Sesshoumaru did most of the heavy lifting, although she still wasn't certain if that was out of an attention to her well-being or because he lacked faith in her abilities. She had a difficult time believing it to be the latter, even on the most trying of days with Sesshoumaru - her marksmanship was proficient and often practiced. He had never complained. Either way, she didn't have to concern herself overly much about the actual work. But Kagome did wonder, as she frequently did, if the result would improve anything. The Order multiplied even as the Alliance plummeted into nothing more than a loose network of despondent youkai.

After all, when the Alliance called on _a miko_, of all people, to help create the last line of defense, things were not going well for the demons in the world.

Below her feet, the melody swirled in a controlled frenzy as it climbed towards the finale. The chorus fought back and forth between men and women for dominance, trading off their interlocked phrases in German, and the soloists' voices pierced through the wave of sound. Kagome's heart swelled painfully within her chest as every instrument and voice was raised as one, tumbling up to its grand crescendo and end. The final note rang through the hall for a several seconds before the awed crowd jumped to its feet.

Kagome applauded so enthusiastically that Sesshoumaru's hand came to rest on her back to stop her from falling backwards off the catwalk. "Careful, woman!" he admonished as he steadied her, rolling his eyes when all she spared him was a smile in the midst of her cheers.

Beethoven put his arms down, having finished conducting several beats after the symphony had reached its pinnacle, and stood still, looking out over his orchestra. In his cocoon of silence, he couldn't hear the yells and whistling of the audience behind him - only when the contralto physically took hold of his arms and turned him around could he see the exuberance of the crowd. Kagome found that she was crying along with the composer as he clutched his hands to his chest and bowed.

"We must go," said Sesshoumaru, standing up and taking her wooden case to sling over his shoulder.

She reluctantly grasped his arm and allowed him to pull her to her feet and down the length of the catwalk to the rope ladder hidden in the wings. "We have time," she insisted. "In my era, hermits in the Yukon know Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. They're going to take ages to stop cheering for him."

"Then, we may rest for a few minutes _after_ we get into position," Sesshoumaru said, descending to the floor.

Kagome admitted defeat and climbed down to the stage after him, but stopped before she took another step - Beethoven himself had appeared beside the ladder, stepping into the wings to bring a handkerchief to his eyes. The streaks of the tears that that had flowed down his face mirrored her own, and they stared at one another for a breathless moment. Behind him, the audience still cheered, calling out for his return to the stage.

He took in her outfit - a pair of men's trousers and a waistcoat, worn for ease of movement in the imminent hunt - without batting an eye, and she shook herself out of her awed stupor. "It was beautiful. Like coming home at last," she said in German, speaking deliberately for the sake of lipreading.

The composer shook his head - it was dark in the wings, and she had said too much to be accurately interpreted. Drawing a small conversation book - his weapon against his deafness - out of his pocket, he offered it to her with a piece of charcoal that left smudged his fingertips.

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru called from the stage door.

She put her hands over Beethoven's and shook her head. "Thank you," she said instead, before she bent towards him to press a kiss to the old man's cheek.

"You are most welcome, my dear," he said. He shared a bright, understanding smile with her before she was gone, running after Sesshoumaru as the composer turned back to the stage to receive another standing ovation.

The door clicked closed behind her when she reached the alley. "Don't give me that look. It was worth it," she said, taking her wooden case from the taiyoukai.

"He will remember you."

"Maybe as a boy," she said, gesturing to her clothing.

Sesshoumaru watched as she crouched down to open the case. "No one would believe that you are a boy, no matter how you are dressed," he muttered.

She removed the long-barreled rifle, propping it up on one knee as she glanced back at him. "I think I might have heard almost a compliment under all that," she said with a smirk. "Are you saying that I'm shapely?"

Sesshoumaru snorted, rather indelicately. "You are shaped as a female, I suppose."

Kagome stood up and approached him. "It's alright, you know. You can admit it without seeming as if you've ever looked closely. I _am_ actually female."

"I am aware of that," he murmured. He pulled her body closer to his, wrapping an arm around her waist, and rolled his gray eyes up to the sky.

"Making extra sure?" she asked with a raised eyebrow as he hesitated.

His head snapped back to glare at her before he catapulted the both of them to the roof of the Carinthian Gate Theater, where he released her immediately. "Remember what we discussed. Do not engage these two. We do not know what training they have received, except that he is a murderer," he said. "Remember, only shoot if absolutely necessary."

"You've said that for the past twelve years," Kagome said, pushing away the flutter in her stomach for weary resignation to fill its place. She shouldn't have teased him, she knew. It was such a sure-fire way to put him in a rigid, business-like mode. If she was very lucky, it would only last until the completion of their assignment. "I've never fired at your targets. I know that I'm strictly back-up," she added as she scaled the roof to get to her predetermined post.

She sat cross-legged on the edge of the roof with her rifle across her lap, and the alley stretched out below her - obviously not the most likely exit for a couple going to a premiere performance in their finest clothing. They had seen the targets enter the concert hall, and the woman had worn a deep red gown that would look black in this light. Kagome wouldn't be able to tell this couple apart from a pair of musicians or stagehands. Sesshoumaru had the nose - he would be the one to find their quarry, no matter what side of the theater they exited. He could easily handle these fights on his own. He _wanted_ to handle these fights on his own.

She peeked at the snowy-haired taiyoukai out of the corner of her eye. He was perched like a bird of prey, prepared to fly after their targets as soon as they appeared in the street below them. As predatory as he looked, her heart softened. The only reason he took her along for these missions was to make her feel important, as something more than his cover story and his default, immortal companion. The reason he didn't want her there - the reason he gave her the same admonition as he had for more than a decade - was to protect the innocence he still believed she possessed.

"You have taken lives when it was necessary to save yourself or others," he had once explained, immediately after he received the name of the first Order member to be assassinated. "Never out of hatred or revenge. Never in cold blood."

Kagome didn't _want _to kill anyone either. She didn't have the stomach for it, righteously or not - Tortuga proved that. If she had actually murdered anyone, it would have been there. Still, she rebelled against Sesshoumaru's constant urge to shield her from the world when she had seen so much of it already. There was purpose in her presence here, beyond what his concessions for his own peace of mind. He wasn't just protecting her - she had to protect him, even if it was from himself. He was all that she had these days. Every one of these missions scared her, despite the ease of cutting down a mortal human.

"There."

She blinked and moved to his side in a moment. "They always look so ordinary," she murmured, watching the soberly-dressed couple move through the crowd.

"If they did not, they would not be very good at their jobs," he replied.

"The woman, too?" she asked. The wife wore the puffed sleeves and high neck of the emerging fashion - a fashion that seemed to be both puritanical and clownish all at once. Kagome was thankful that she often moved around in men's clothing these days.

Sesshoumaru shot her a sideways glance. "Yes," he said. "Do you believe a woman incapable of such vile acts?"

He was still cross with her for her teasing. "You know that I don't," Kagome said, shouldering her rifle. "I just like making sure. How many wives have we widowed that knew nothing of what their husbands really did?"

"Ignorance of their sins saved their lives, but I still have no regrets of taking their husbands," he said. "This one, however, is neither ignorant nor innocent."

She nodded. "Then, she dies. I'm not opposed to saving an entire race at the expense of a few killers, Sesshoumaru."

The taiyoukai's jaw clenched. "Are you ready?" he muttered. Their targets were moving away from the theater.

Kagome got to her feet again. "Let's go," she said, taking off at a run.

They had perfected the art of rooftop surfing. It would have been more sensible, perhaps, if Kagome had simply ridden on Sesshoumaru's back, the way she used to with Inuyasha, but she had shot that idea down early. If she was to be the sharpshooter, she needed to be free to shoot whenever possible, and that included their pursuit. She quickly grew to enjoy this part of their jobs together - they ran up and down the tiled roofs like cat burglars, and Sesshoumaru would curl his arm around her waist to lift her for a moment of flight as they leaped over an alley or a street. Every bit of it was silent, but spent in close proximity with one another as they communicated with looks and gestures, so as not to alert their targets below them. It was as exhilarating as it was intimate - it was the only time she felt the taiyoukai's hands linger on her hips and back as he quietly worried over her safety.

The couple below them hurried along the streets, skirting around the lantern lighters and those less savory types that came out at dusk. They didn't look up - not even when the shadow of two flying figures danced at the periphery of their vision. The smooth stone faces of the Viennese buildings rising around them made their footsteps echo. To follow two oblivious humans meant an easy hunt for Kagome and Sesshoumaru, and his grip softened as he held her close.

Their prey turned into a three-story brick house at the end of a wide lane, and Sesshoumaru dropped into an alley across the way. "They share a wall with the neighbors," he observed, nodding towards the row of identical homes on the other side of the street. In one of the rooms on the top level, a light was lit behind thick curtains.

Kagome interpreted his sidelong glance to mean that he didn't wish her to go inside with him, but she ignored it and put her rifle on her back again. "So I will not fire at all tonight," she said with a shrug. "Unless it's absolutely necessary."

A frown hovered at the corners of his mouth. "When would it ever be necessary for _us_?" he asked before he stepped into the lantern-lined avenue.

She kept on his heels and watched for anyone at the neighbors' windows. Everything seemed clear, and Kagome drew out picks to deal with the door. Lock-picking used to be something she had a great deal of trouble with - Sesshoumaru had often been obliged to bust open the door and risk the noise - but she had trained herself over the past dozen years. She saw, however, that this lock would be trouble. "There's something stuck inside," she whispered. "It feels like glass."

Sesshoumaru grabbed her hands and drew her away as soon as she had given this opinion. "Do not touch it."

It was a needless warning - Kagome had seen the booby-traps important members of the Order set on their doors before. She gestured wordlessly to a dark window close to them, and Sesshoumaru pried it open with minimal creaking of wood. As soon as the taiyoukai had lifted her inside, however, her indifference to continuing with the mission failed. "We should go," she murmured, subtly wiping her sweaty palms on her waistcoat. "Something feels wrong."

"Yes," he agreed without argument, surprising her. "But I will not leave until I discover their purpose here."

"What good could it possibly do?" Kagome asked. "Except, perhaps, hurt us somehow."

"But we will kill them, as well," answered Sesshoumaru.

"Why do I get the feeling that there are more of 'them' than just the couple we followed in here?" she muttered, looking around and letting her eyes adjust to the low light. They stood in the middle of a scantly furnished parlor with hardly enough seating to receive any guests. "I smell phosphorous."

Sesshoumaru nodded, bending down to sweep the tip of a finger along a baseboard. "The house is set to go up in flames, if they so choose," he said. "We must not create any sparks."

She sighed. "My rifle just got downgraded from a useful standby weapon to an unwieldy stick," she said. "Are we actually going to go through what is quickly becoming a house of horrors?"

"If it gives us even one answer, we must," he replied. "Do you have a knife?"

"Always," she said, twirling the six inch blade once as she transferred it from her boot to her belt.

"You will need it soon," Sesshoumaru said, cocking his head towards the door to the hall.

She caught the sound of shuffling feet out in the hallway and exchanged an understanding glance with the taiyoukai before they moved apart. As she silently walked to the door at the back of the room, Kagome grabbed the one ornament that the parlor could boast - a clumsily-made porcelain pitcher. At the entrance to the hallway, Sesshoumaru hovered with his claws glowing green. Kagome almost pitied the men creeping up on Sesshoumaru - they wouldn't be fighting just his claws and his poison, but his anger that he had been drawn into this house at all. Playing a trick on the taiyoukai was usually the last thing you did.

At least three men were breathing on the other side of the wall from her position, and they smelled of sweat and phosphorous - even with her human senses, Kagome found mortals remarkably clumsy in their attempts at stealth. A creaky floorboard announced the first man's entrance into the room, and she brought the pitcher up and into his face. There was a crunch of bone and a spurt of blood - his nose would never be straight again, even if he did survive the night. He fell down, straight over the threshold and clasped his hands over his mouth, his eyes watering.

The injured assassin's cry of pain defeated any other attempts at silence, and the rest of them poured into the room at both ends. Kagome was not the only one that was incapacitated without use of her firearm - the two remaining men that came at her had knives, not guns. Her swift kick to the first one's knee successfully floored him, making him drop his blade out of instinct as he covered his vulnerable joint. Her body felt alive with power as he went down - her skin crackled, and she broke out into an adrenalin-fueled sweat as she prepared for a successful fight.

The second man was quick - he came at her before she could draw her own knife. But she wasn't unprepared. Her wrist blocked his downward stroke, and she brought the heel of the palm of her free hand up to his chin, snapping back his head in a rough movement that jarred his teeth inside his head.

"Not so easy, huh?" she muttered, smashing her foot into the temple of the assassin with the injured knee before she stooped to take away his knife, too. She could hear Sesshoumaru still fighting behind her - it wasn't a surprise that they would send more after the imposing taiyoukai than her - but when she turned around, she saw that she was the only one having it easy tonight.

She let out a wordless cry when she saw him wavering on his feet. The power she had felt only seconds earlier had not been from her or her own sense of accomplishment - it came from the holy men that surrounded the taiyoukai, covering him in what looked like sutras. Four men already had crumpled to the ground in pools of their own blood, but Sesshoumaru seemed to be moving through a fog. His swings were wide and slow, and his poison had dissipated.

Kagome rushed to him, slicing across the back of a monk in the middle of a chant. The paper he had been holding fluttered to the floor and stopped glowing its menacing red. "Get off of him!" she yelled, her next blow glancing off the arm of another assassin.

Hands grabbed at her from behind, and she gave their owners' noses and sternums a few powerful strikes of her elbow before she could pull away again. Sesshoumaru had managed to kill another one, but it seemed that they were multiplying - whoever had sprung this trap knew who to concentrate their forces upon.

Sweeping her knife wildly towards those that tried to grapple with her again, she lunged forward to meet the taiyoukai in the middle. His golden eyes seemed drugged. "Shoulder," he murmured.

She raked her nails over his shoulders, tearing at the paper sealed onto his clothing. The cloud of magic sputtered around them, and she felt a sutra hit her own back, although it could do nothing to her. Sesshoumaru was dragging himself to his feet again, reaching out and ripping a monk's throat out before the holy man could complete his next spell.

Someone was clawing at her again, pulling her back from the taiyoukai, just as another sutra adhered itself to his bicep. Only when she felt something rough and thick loop around her neck - a rope, she guessed, as she grasped at it - did she cry out again. "Sesshoumaru!" she gasped, as she was thrown off-balance and dragged backwards.

His roar of frustration was almost animal - she could see the way his eyes glowed red in frustration, but he kept his shape. He tried to break through to get to her, but a line had been drawn, quite literally. An iridescent ring on the floor began to shine as he reached for her, trapping him without a cage. Kagome twisted, plunging a knife into the thigh of one of her captors, but there were more than just two or three now - hands tightened around her limbs, tearing away her blade and almost tearing her arms out of their sockets in the process as she was dragged into the next room.

Heavy doors were closed after her, cutting off her line of sight as soon as possible. She struggled viciously, not caring how deeply the rope chafed into her neck - she didn't need air, and her skin would heal quickly. She couldn't allow them to subdue the taiyoukai though. This evening was supposed to be simple. An hour ago, she had been listening to music conducted by its master. She wouldn't permit anything to color that feeling of pure elation that she had when she sat beside Sesshoumaru and listened to the birth of a masterpiece.

They were pushing her to the floor, now. As strong as she had become - by human standards, at least - she could not fight off several, trained assassins. For a moment, she had the hideous sensation of being back on a ship - she could smell salt water and rum and the breath of pirates as they chuckled about the good luck of their captain.

"Get the axe!" shouted one of the men in German. "Chop the bitch's head off!"

Another roar came from the next room, and Kagome snapped out of her moment of panic, trying to wrench her body up from the floorboards. The gun that she was not supposed to fire was still on her back, digging into her spine, but the knives were gone. "But," started another voice.

"Do it!"

It was a mistake on their part - as soon as one lessened the pressure on her arm, she ripped it away and grabbed for the short blade on the assassin's belt. She drew it up, out of its sheath, and along the soft flesh of the man's throat. The others reflexively shrank away from the gush of blood, and she tightened her grip on the hilt of the blade so it wouldn't slip from her hand as she drew it across their wrists, where they held her. A kick from both legs freed her there as well, and she got to her feet.

There were seven of them in total - seven assassins who had become so soft in their deadly arts that they could release one girl from an entirely prone position. Compared to her sparring sessions with Sesshoumaru, her work in what once was the dining room was almost too easy. They fought back, but they could not defeat the woman who became stronger with every shout from the room that still held the taiyoukai. Soon, all seven were unconscious or, if they were _very _lucky, dead.

"Sesshoumaru!" she cried, heaving her shoulder against the door to the front parlor and forcing it to give way. She ran to the bodies on the threshold of the corridor, turning over each one in quick succession, although she could see with a glance that none of them were the taiyoukai.

Shreds of paper lay scattered about the area, drifting one way or another as she moved. Sesshoumaru had survived, of course - she always knew that she would feel a dimming in her heart if they were ever separated by death - but she wondered if he had gone on his own power or with the Order.

Creeping into the dark hallway, she cursed the lack of light. Sesshoumaru would be able to see everything and smell where each and every living assassin stood waiting for them. Separated from him, despite the training she had accumulated over the years, left her bereft of the best protection she could have.

She considered the possibility of lighting the house on fire - the idea of healing from severe burns wasn't the most pleasant, but it would destroy the remnants of the resistance in the house. But, she realized, if Sesshoumaru was incapacitated in some way, he could easily suffer more than any of them. She had nursed him back from near death once, and she wasn't keen on doing it again. The only thing worse than dying of third degree burns was probably living with them.

Pausing at the bottom of the stairwell, Kagome remembered the light they had seen on the third floor - a light that should not have been lit if there was any of the flammable phosphorous up there. Sesshoumaru would have noticed that, and, sure enough, when she reached out with her miko senses, she could feel him somewhere above her head.

She grabbed one of the knives on the corpse of a priest and crept up the steps, listening every other moment for a sign of other inhabitants. A small pool of blood glistened on the landing of the second floor, although she couldn't see a body. She had to hold herself back from calling the taiyoukai's name again - he wouldn't answer, and he would not appreciate that she willingly gave up her position to the enemy. It would only be for her comfort, anyway - his name always made her feel safe.

The smell of phosphorous was not so strong on this floor, and she felt at the seams between the floor and the wall for the white powder. It was only bending down to this new angle that allowed Kagome to see the glint of the blade coming towards her. She grabbed at it, wrestling the arm back up with the strength of her legs pushing back against the floor. The attack was silent, and the counterattack was nearly so - a hard headbutt to the assassin's nose and chin made him crumple under his own weight. As she lowered him to the ground as quietly as she could, there was a strangled gasp for air to her left and another body joined her own victim.

"Se-," she began, before his hand slid over her mouth.

He was shaking. "Take them off of me," he whispered. "There are more."

Kagome wasn't sure if he meant there were more assassins as well, but she could see the sutras still clinging to his body. The smoky smell of burning cotton filled her nose as her fingers clutched at the strips of paper - several of them had burned through his clothing and into his skin. To her, they were ineffectual bits of parchment, but even such a powerful taiyoukai as Sesshoumaru quivered under the weight of so many. She worked quickly, peeling them away from him and tucking a few into her sleeve for later study.

She ran her hands over his body lightly to make sure she had cleared away every spell and tried not to blush as she did so. "Clear," she murmured, touching his shoulder. It was steady under her touch.

He held her to her place with a gesture and moved away, leaving her to take a few moments to catch her breath for what would surely be a cataclysmic confrontation on the third floor. She heard a few thumps and moans in the other rooms where Sesshoumaru had gone, but her imagination was captured by the monster that must be orchestrating this savagery. The couple they had followed home from the concert, she was sure, would be the culprits. And for all this trouble, she was not feeling particularly charitable towards either of them.

Her rifle was in her hands by the time the taiyoukai returned to her side. "Two more," he murmured, confirming her suspicions in an instant.

They mounted the stairs to the third floor together - he only moved ahead when they reached the bedroom door. It was open already - the small oil lamp cast a square of light onto the top stair.

Sesshoumaru paused and frowned just outside of the door. "What?" Kagome mouthed at him.

He pointed to his ears, and she leaned forward, straining to distinguish a faint, rhythmic sound. It was the sound of muffled sobbing.

Kagome peeked around the doorjamb to see a bedroom just as sparse as the rest of the house - only a bed without linens stood in the middle of the room. The couple - their original targets - were huddled in the corner, partially obscured by the one piece of furniture. The woman's head was buried in the crook of the husband's neck. Their eyes were shut as they breathed together, clutching at one another. They hardly looked the part she had cast for them - if these two were head honchos and murderers for the Order, she would eat her hat.

Still, just in case, she kept a firm grip on her rifle as she stepped into the room. "Show me your hands," she ordered the mousy pair.

They started, stretching out their arms in a clumsy frenzy of movement. "Please!" cried the man as he bowed his head and his wife whimpered beside him. "Please, don't hurt us, Lord and Lady Demon!"

Kagome looked back at Sesshoumaru, who was wearing his most surprised expression - two raised eyebrows. "Right. So, you're definitely not with the Order?"

"Are those the monsters that forced us in here?" asked the woman. "To be bait? No!"

She lowered her gun, and Sesshoumaru stepped forward. "Then, who are you?" he asked with his low, dangerous voice.

"No one of importance," the man muttered. He slowly moved his arm around his wife's shoulders, hugging her tightly to him. "I am Dierderich, and this is Gerda. We are both servants in the household of Emperor Francis the Second."

She blinked. "The Emperor of Austria? King of Bohemia, Croatia and Hungary?" she asked. "_That_ Francis the Second?"

Gerda nodded. "We're not important. I was fortunate enough to bow to His Majesty once a day," she murmured. She smoothed her hands over her finely made clothing. "Those men had to give us these. We could never afford something so beautiful."

Kagome sighed lightly, frowning at the sad woman. "Why were you used as bait?" she asked gently.

"They were expendable," Sesshoumaru answered for them as he paced, "and they didn't know anything."

The miko saw the flash of guilt that passed over the man's face. "But servants always know more than they should. They hear things," she murmured, shouldering her rifle and bending down to look at the couple. "So? Did you hear something?"

Sesshoumaru stopped in his restless fidgeting. "I do," he said, turning towards the doorway. "Someone has come inside the house. Probably to start a fire."

"He can hear all the way down to there?" murmured Dierderich in awe.

"You'll be able to hear it, too," Kagome said, "when they light that white phosphorous downstairs." She reached her hands towards the couple. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

"Not down the stairs," muttered Sesshoumaru, closing the door. He crossed to the window in two steps and pushed it open. A bullet almost immediately ricocheted off the brick, covering the taiyoukai's sleeve in dust. He pulled back. "And not out the window," he added with a scowl.

Just as the taiyoukai drew the curtains, the entire house rattled with a concussive, booming noise like a million matches being stricken at once. Gerda shrieked and grabbed at Kagome's hand. "And there we go," said Kagome, wincing at how the servant had wrenched her arm.

Sesshoumaru ran a hand over the windowless, back wall. "We should take a chance," he said in Japanese. "They will certainly have someone watching the alley as well."

"We need to get them out to ask any questions, Sesshoumaru," she replied, trying to ignore the smell of smoke already creeping up through the floorboards. "We can stand up to a few bullets, but they certainly can't."

He shook his head. "Step back," he said, some annoyance in his voice.

His poison whip made quick work of the wall - the double layers of brick and plaster rotted away in a few seconds - but phosphorous burned hot and fast. The floor was beginning to whine with the strain of their weight, and it grew too warm to touch. "Take them first," Kagome said, pushing the human couple towards the taiyoukai.

"I can take you, too," he insisted, reaching for her.

"You'll be faster this way," she answered. A crash of crumbling wood rose from the lower floors. She smiled. "I'll be here when you get back."

He sent her a look that told the miko that they _would_ be discussing this incident later, but he obediently stepped out of the opening he had made and flew up, through the darkness of the alley. Kagome let out the breath she had been holding as soon as he disappeared and disregarded the flutter of apprehension within her breast as she went to the windows. "It'll just take a few seconds," she muttered to herself as she extinguished the oil lamp and peeked out the curtains.

An identical, brick house stood on the other side of the street, looking lonely and dark, despite the way the fire was lighting up the street below. Neighbors were beginning to pour into the avenue, crying out for the fire brigade and yelling loudly for the sake of their own homes. They screamed as one when the glass shattered in the windows downstairs, and the backdraft shook the building as the oxygen swept inside, glutting the fire with fuel.

Kagome kept standing where she was, looking for a whisper of movement in the house opposite. She could imagine the engineer of this 'house of horrors' sitting at one of those dark windows and watching the destruction of the building that he had rigged to kill a dangerous demon and his eternal, human companion. It wasn't hard to believe that he was watching this window as intently as she was searching those across the street. He couldn't shoot again - not with the people in the street.

"Kagome." The floor trembled with the added weight of the taiyoukai.

She realized how thick the smoke had become when she turned and did not see him. She was sweating, too - it was hotter than Hades, and she hadn't noticed. "They're watching us," she said, inching out with her foot and testing the hot boards before stepping onto them.

"Of course," he muttered. "They shot at me."

Kagome coughed thickly and shook her head. "Not just a guard. The man who planned this. I can _feel _it."

He materialized at her side as she was tapping at the floor with her foot again. "We do not have time for this," he said, pulling her towards the other side of the room with no small amount of quickness in his pace. "I did not leave those two servants in the most comfortable of places. Not to mention that this house is falling apart."

She pulled him close as he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Do they know who we are?" she whispered.

He paused for a moment at the opening at the back of the building. "Yes, I believe they do," he said. He held her tightly against his body and launched them from the back of the building. Cool, evening air wrapped itself around her body and swept away some of the smoky, phosphorous smell, but it also caused her to begin shivering in the taiyoukai's arms. "Kagome?"

"I'm sorry," she murmured. "I'm not scared. I shouldn't be, anyway. They can't hurt _us_. It must be the adrenaline wearing off." She lifted her head from his shoulder. "But what could we have done wrong? After twelve years, I can understand that they might be suspicious of why their members keep dropping off like flies, but we were careful. _You_ were careful. We weren't seen. We didn't touch anything. You even killed them differently, to disguise any pattern."

"Which might be a pattern in and of itself," suggested Sesshoumaru. "We will find out. I am hoping the servants know more than what little they have told us so far."

Kagome took a deep breath of the air rushing by - it wouldn't do much good to look frightened in front of Dierderich and Gerda. It would only make them worry. "Where did you put them?"

"There."

The silhouette of St. Stephen's Cathedral rose up against the night sky with its two, uneven towers - one, spiked and Gothic, and the other, smooth and stumped. Sesshoumaru landed lightly on the brightly colored, tiled roof, between the gables, and jumped again, up to the belfry of the shorter, north tower. The pigeons ruffled their feathers at the intrusion, but the giant bell remained silent and still.

"My lady?" came Dierderich's voice, just as Sesshoumaru set Kagome down on the ledge.

The pair of servants were tucked inside the tower walls, their feet swinging out over the shaft below the bell. Everything smelled of pigeon droppings, but Kagome couldn't fault the choice of temporary hiding place otherwise. "Are you two alright?"

"Fine," Gerda said, her eyes wide. "My lord can _fly_."

Kagome gave a broad smile, despite herself. "One of his many talents," she said, glancing at the taiyoukai as he leaned against one of the wooden braces inside the tower. She gingerly nestled herself into a nook next to the pair. "He's going to take you outside the city, too. The price of surviving that fire is that you're going to have to leave Vienna, you know."

"We talked of that when your lord husband went to get you," said Dierderich. The label he had placed on Sesshoumaru made her want to look anywhere but at the taiyoukai - it was a ludicrous sense of embarrassment, since they had often pretended to be husband and wife in their recent travels. She had been accused of much worse than being married to the demon, after all. "My mother's brother has a small farm a few days' ride from the city. We can go there for awhile."

She didn't know if they would be safe anywhere aside from Antarctica - it was possible that the Order wouldn't care less about a pair of servants that escaped a trap for demons, or they could guess she and Sesshoumaru had helped them, consider it treason to humanity and hunt them down to the ends of the earth. Out loud, however, she said, "Sounds like a great idea."

Gerda gave her a weak smile. "We never should have listened to the men that came. They said that they needed us. That we could help His Majesty. And all we had to do was dress in beautiful clothing, attend a concert with so many important people and go home to a real house. Of course, we agreed."

"But soon, we heard the men talking," Dierderich continued. "They were gloating, saying that this was just the second emperor they had under their control, but that there would be more."

"His Majesty grew restless and angry, and we knew something wasn't right," Gerda said.

Kagome arched an eyebrow. "You overhead him talking about it?" she said, wondering if they had hit upon the world's perfect servants - observant and willing to talk, but only in truths.

"Napoleon took away so much from His Majesty," the other woman said, the ubiquitous, patriotic bitterness at the crushing defeat at Austerlitz creeping into her voice. "They promised they would return everything he had lost during the wars against France. They promised that the Holy Roman Empire would be resurrected, and he would regain that title that he lost."

The miko shared a look with Sesshoumaru - his contempt of human greed was plain upon his face. But she couldn't quite share his feelings - the Holy Roman Empire had survived for a millennium, since Charlemagne, and Napoleon had crushed it. She could understand why Francis II would be anguished over failing his predecessors, despite the vast swaths of land he had left. She also had a suspicion that it was only half the story. "What would happen if he rejected the Order's plans?" she asked.

"They said that the Holy Roman Empire wasn't the only one he could lose," muttered Dierderich.

"He has several, living children, including two sons. What could they have done?" asked Sesshoumaru.

The servant shrugged. "I don't think he wanted to contemplate the possibilities, Lord Demon, but I think they can do anything they wish."

"They're devils," whispered Gerda, not recognizing the irony of her words.

Kagome frowned in the taiyoukai's direction. "What I don't get is, why?" she murmured. "This isn't like it was with Napoleon. What advantage do they have here? How does supporting or not supporting the Austrian emperor have any bearing on their mission?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "It doesn't," he said. "But it didn't in France, either."

"But Napoleon's child..."

"Was the reason that he allowed them to get close," he interrupted, straightening his back. "They did not use it against him, because they did not know."

Kagome's head was already swimming - she pinched at the top of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. "The Order obviously withdrew its support of France," she murmured. "Napoleon lost. Twice."

Sesshoumaru transitioned into Japanese. "It is possible that the trap they set for us tonight in that house was not one of recent design. They could have known we've been alive since Moscow. That could be the reason Napoleon never recovered. They would never support a man that harbored youkai."

"I still don't understand their game, then," she answered in kind. They both ignored the wide-eyed looks of Dierderich and Gerda as they spoke in their native tongue. "Ruling France or Austria from the shadows can't help with hunting down demons that much. There aren't many of you left here in Europe."

The taiyoukai was silent for a few moments. "Perhaps it has nothing to do with us," he murmured.

"Tonight certainly did," she pointed out. "They were ready for us."

"Yes, but the Order will seek to destroy all demons until they succeed or until we destroy them." He shook his head. "But you are right, Kagome. There are so few of us here. They know that, as well. They might be looking to shift their priorities. An organization without a goal is not much of an organization at all."

She blinked. "So, they decided on world domination as a good back-up plan? Who does that?"

He arched an eyebrow at her that she could see even in the low light. "Attempting to gain power is not an uncommon goal."

"Right," she murmured, trying not to blush at her gaffe. "But you just wanted to be the most powerful demon ever, not rule the world. Who wants that kind of pressure? Think of the paperwork!"

He almost looked amused. "True."

Kagome leaned back against the stone wall. "A secret society trying to take over the globe. The conspiracy theorists in my time would have a field day with this." She sighed. "And the problem is that we would never really know, would we? I mean, that's the point of having a shadowy figure behind the curtain, right? No one knows it's there. They could have Europe completely under its power already."

"The key to destroying secret societies is to reveal their secrets," murmured the dog demon.

"They're not just supporting empires, Sesshoumaru. They're _shaping_ them," she said. "They have more power than we thought."

"Which means they have more secrets than we thought, as well," he answered.

She frowned down into the blackness beneath her feet. "Where are most of the youkai these days?" she asked.

"Japan. The more remote parts of South America. Africa."

Kagome covered her mouth to keep from crying out in dismay. "Africa? Sesshoumaru, it's _imperialism,_" she said. "Europe is about to start carving up that entire continent in earnest. France, Germany and Britain are going to use it as their own, personal playground."

"Clever," muttered Sesshoumaru. "Rule the world. Hunt all the demons down while you're at it. It is efficient to marry the two purposes together."

She rolled her head back against the stone. "I wish I didn't know this stuff, sometimes," she said. "Oh, and I forgot Belgium. They take a sizable chunk of Africa and do hideously awful things with it. There are a few others involved, too."

"Belgium?"

Kagome nodded. "Not a separate country yet, I know, but it will be. Soon, I think."

In the pause, they both remembered Dierderich and Gerda, who were still listening, mesmerized, to the language they couldn't understand. "Is something wrong?" Gerda asked.

"Nothing that you have to worry about," said the miko, trying to give her a comforting smile. The idea of having the Order playing around with nation-building, however, prevented her from the bright, false cheerfulness she could usually manage in times like these. "You guys were a lot of help. Thank you. We'll hold up our end of the bargain, now, and take you someplace safer than this."

The pair nodded. "Was that, ah, your language?" Dierderich questioned, looking back and forth between them.

It was true amusement that now made the corner of Kagome's mouth twitch upwards. "You mean, a language for us demons?" she asked, sending a sidelong glance at Sesshoumaru, who rolled his eyes. "Yes, it was our language, but not of all demons," she continued, trying to lie by omission only.

"They said you would be cruel and heartless," Gerda said, "but you have warm voices."

Kagome smiled for real at that - she had hardly ever heard the Japanese language referred to as 'warm'. "Perhaps the Order would have had better luck if they had not chosen such discriminating bait," she observed, making the pair of servants blush. She stood up, teetering carefully on the ledge. "Sesshoumaru, are you ready?"

The taiyoukai pushed himself up straight again with a preoccupied listlessness - she was not the only one so affected by the news of the Order's global plans. Sometimes, it helped to know that he worried, too. "I will take them," he muttered, "if they have told us everything."

"What else could there be?" she asked.

"Names," Sesshoumaru said, his eyes sliding over the two servants. "Places. Dates."

Just as Dierderich began to shake his head, Gerda said, "There was a name, my lord. Lucas."

Cautious interest sparked within his eyes again. "Was he one of the men that brought you to the house?" he asked.

Gerda shook her head. "I don't think so. I only heard the emperor say that name once, after the men left. I have never known anyone to frighten His Majesty, but when this man was named, it was with a whisper. I don't think he was actually with the party that visited the palace."

Sesshoumaru turned to Kagome, his gaze now entirely alight with intrigue. "Lucas. That is a British name, is it not?" he asked, speaking in Japanese again.

"I think so, if it's a last name," she answered. "But, come on, do we have to? Aren't you sick to death of England?"

"Very much so," the dog demon said, "but I will go, if it means destroying just one of their leaders."

Kagome gave him the exasperated, tender smile that only a long-time companion could manage, knowing that the other wouldn't budge. "Alright," she said. "But if _we_ go, you have to take me someplace nice after that. Someplace of my choosing. A vacation? Or maybe a trip home?"

Sesshoumaru considered her for a moment. "If you have been waiting for an opportune time to make a deal like this, you should know that you only needed to ask."

"I wasn't going to ask you to give up your mission here," she said with a shake of her head.

"You speak of greater communication between us," he said, turning his head away. "You should know that you can ask anything of me, although I may not be able to give it."

She could almost _touch _the earnestness of what he was saying to her. The miko smiled softly and felt the heaviness of her wedding ring and in her heart. "I know," she said at last.

He took a breath. "So, we will go where you wish, when this is done," he said.

"When Lucas is dead," she agreed, trying not to flush under the intensity of his gaze. She looked away, back to the servants, who were once again watching with interest. Gerda winked at her, and the blush Kagome had been holding back took hold of her body, from head to toe. "Um, you should take them to the city gates and come back for me. I'll wait."

He agreed with a slow nod and crossed the belfry to take on his two passengers. Soon, he was flying from the top of the church steeple like a silver owl in the dark. Kagome watched him until he disappeared, knowing he would return for her as soon as he could.

* * *

A/N: Hey, there's my muse! I guess she decided to take an extended vacation - the most extended vacation I've ever, ever, EVER had a muse take, in fact. I'm not completely sure she's back to top form, either, but we're getting there.

Thanks again to all those fabulous artists out there, who were clearly being productive and creating beautiful things, while I sat and stared at a blank screen. LoL. Truly, I love you all. *hugs*

A couple historical notes to expand upon what's in this chapter:

1. Roughly at the same time Napoleon was defeated for a second time at Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna was splitting up the land that Napoleon had claimed in his wars and figuring out what to do about the Holy Roman Empire, which (as mentioned in the story) was dissolved by Francis II when Napoleon beat the tar out of him at Austerlitz in 1805. Francis was pretty humiliated by how soundly (and how often) Napoleon defeated him. He even had to marry off his daughter to Napoleon - that was Marie Louise, who was mentioned in the previous chapter. Francis II became a reactionary, deeply distrustful of any "radicalism" and believing that things were far better before the wars with France.

2. The premiere of Beethoven's _Ninth Symphony in D minor_ is depicted as accurately as I could do it (minus him meeting Kagome, of course!) with the limited and sometimes conflicting information I could find. He really was deaf by that point, and the contralto had to turn him around to see that people loved it. Unfortunately, the second performance was not so well-attended or well-received - it was his last public performance. He died three years later.


	15. 1848: Castlebar

A/N: Ah, yeah. The muse is still being temperamental. Believe me, I suffer with you on that. Anyway, fair warning - this chapter has *ahem* sexual innuendo.

It was (mostly) all about nostalgia for my older fics with fabulous fanart since my last update:

There's *moar* beautiful fanart for TOaFT, this time from megaminoeien called "One Last Sunrise" - megaminoeien[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]One-Last-Sunrise-154400210  
She also did a gorgeous portrait of Kagome from this story, from the Surat chapter - megaminoeien[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]Golden-Parvati-1548497024th

XenosTheZebraApple did a wonderful depiction of both Kagome and Sesshoumaru from the Reign of Terror chapter - xenosthezebraapple[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]Vive-la-Revolution-157347102

And aynessa drew an adorable headshot of Kagome from The Broken Miko - aynessa[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]Lineart-Broken-Miko-159580044

Also, siren-mergirl did a beautiful study of Kagome from Thousandfurs with her in her cloak - siren-mergirl[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]#[slash]d2ofl3a

This story won 2nd place in the Best Romance: Other category for the IY Fan Guild for the 4th Quarter! AND then, it tied for Best Romance: Other for all of 2009 in the Best of the Year awards! Woot! :)

AND, I believe for the first time, a story of mine was nominated *and* won over at the Feudal Association - this story got first place for the Best In-Character category! :D Yay! My story "The Nightingale" won Best Romance - Other as well!

Thank you to all the wonderful artists, nominators and voters out there! *hugs* Also to Ijin, as always, for making sure this wasn't a total hack job of a chapter, lol.

**Beside You in Time**  
**1848: Castlebar, Ireland**

In the absence of a pub, his smithy had become the town's meeting place for gossip and news. That hadn't been the plan - if he'd foreseen that, he would have chosen another of the many professions he'd mastered over the years that he could practice in relative anonymity. Kagome, however, had quickly grown attached to the small, suffering community. She had convinced him to remain in the center of things, in exchange for a promise that she would ensure that the townsmen left him to work in peace.

Unfortunately, Kagome wasn't always around to remind them.

"Don't you agree, Liam?" asked Thomas Flynn, looking towards the taiyoukai. He stood in the middle of a circle of ten men - all dirty and thin. And all of them with a fire in their eyes that Sesshoumaru had seen too often before someone did something supremely stupid. "I think we're overdue!"

He examined the horseshoe he had been shaping. "For what?" he murmured, trying to stretch the moments until Kagome got home.

"For our own revolution!" answered Flynn, looking flustered. "The poor of Europe are revolting against their tyrants, and we're here, starving. We're being turned out of our homes and forced to watch our children die. And the English do nothing but tax us! Doesn't that deserve action?"

"Hn. Undoubtedly," said Sesshoumaru, "but you're proposing a violent revolt against a powerful throne."

"There are rumblings all across Europe. The people of France have already thrown off their oppressors," called Daniel Sullivan.

"In Paris. They threatened the life of the king and won by sheer numbers and with arson," the demon pointed out. He paused. "And with several casualties. Who here is prepared to fight England?"

A murmur rose from the crowd. "We all are," said Flynn, curling his hands into fists.

Sesshoumaru stilled their nods with a glance. "And who is able?" he asked. "Who has had a meal in the past three years that can rival the meal that the lowliest infantryman in the British Army had this morning? Do any of even own a rifle?"

"Had one," muttered a man named O'Connell that had long ago been evicted from his hovel on a quarter of an acre. "They took it to pay for my taxes."

Flynn pounced upon this, although he certainly already knew. "Do you see? They've even taken away our ability to fight for ourselves!" he exclaimed.

The taiyoukai thrust the horseshoe back into the forge. "I wonder why," he commented dryly.

"The English should find out exactly what we can do," the other man insisted. "Ireland has a will of its own!"

"You want them to feed us, and yet, you claim that we should have autonomy?" asked Sesshoumaru with a frown. "If you burned Ireland to the ground, the English will rejoice that they have charcoal to sell and freshly turned earth to plant instead of Irish to feed."

"But if we did," pressed Flynn. He was never a man that gave up, even in easier times. Kagome once confided that he reminded her of a 'used car salesman' - something Sesshoumaru understood was not entirely flattering. "Would you join us, Liam? Would Maeve?"

The rest of the men stopped whispering amongst themselves to listen for the answer, but Sesshoumaru wasn't surprised at the desire for his cooperation. His regenerative abilities meant that he didn't waste away as the townspeople did in the face of starvation - he was a beast among men these days with his straight back and strong limbs. He knew that he and Kagome's health inspired both awe and envy, as well as a measurable amount of fear. Kagome's label of 'witch' had followed her here because of it.

"We would, if it came to that," he murmured at last, "but I still counsel against the entire idea."

"I would rather die fighting for Ireland than go on starving in the streets," Flynn said.

A welcome scent floated into the smithy. "I certainly hope you're willing to hasten others to their violent deaths, Thomas," Kagome said, appearing where the group of men parted for her. "Because that's all that will be accomplished."

"Maeve," the man began again.

She shook her head as she pushed back the scarf that covered her black hair. "Die for your country or your people or your family, Thomas," she said with a tired sigh. "Don't die for stupidity's sake. And don't confuse the two."

Sesshoumaru watched as the men were pushed back from the precipice with just a few words from the one woman in the room. He shouldn't be as impressed by it anymore - he'd seen her do it with Inuyasha often enough, even when the half-breed was on the edge of a crazed, demonic rampage. She'd managed to talk him out of committing a few acts of extreme violence over the years, too. Still, it could be a sharp reminder of how effective her half of this newly balanced partnership could be - how easily she could handle herself, with or without him along. He wondered when she had become the powerful and influential one.

As the men turned to one another and grudgingly admitted that revolting in the their isolated corner of the country wouldn't achieve anything, Kagome approached the taiyoukai. "Sorry to leave you with the baby revolutionaries," she whispered with a sardonic smile.

"They could mount an entire rebellion from this shop for all I care," he replied, watching the Irishmen start to bicker amongst themselves again. "I simply wish that they would leave me to myself."

"I know you try to avoid getting involved in human conflicts, but, of all the battles to be fought, isn't this a fairly worthy one?" Kagome asked, lifting her eyes to his.

He snorted. "You just admitted that it would be a slaughter," he said. "And what would we do? Fight with half our hearts and do nothing to stem the bloodshed, since all survivors would be put to death anyway? Or should we turn the tide by giving it our full effort?"

She sighed and nodded. "How many times have we had this conversation?"

"Just about _this_ potential conflict?" he asked. "At least four."

"Sorry," she said, sounding more tired than apologetic.

He arched an eyebrow in her direction. "Need I guess where you've been all this time?"

Kagome shook her head. "Kind of pointless. Can't you smell it?"

Death did linger in her clothes and hair - it overwhelmed the scent of freshly turned soil, the forge and the few lives she managed to bring into the world. She wasn't a healer or midwife so much as an angel of death these days. Families hoped and prayed for too long before calling Kagome to their sick and dying relatives' bedsides, although she never charged a penny for her service. She was extraordinarily comforting in giving grim news - perhaps they need to _hear _the inevitable, instead of just knowing it. Sesshoumaru wished they didn't. It was starting to take a toll on Kagome's heart.

"Anyway," she continued, "I only lost one today. Almost a record."

He would have guessed two or three by the dark look in her eyes. "Did anything else happen?"

"Well, I heard that Rooney is coming," she murmured. "His horse needs a new set of shoes."

It was highly unwelcome news. "Perhaps if he didn't evict every other blacksmith in the county, he wouldn't have to come so far," muttered Sesshoumaru. "When is he arriving?"

"Tomorrow, most likely," she said. "He has some of his ghastly business to conduct. Back-taxes to collect. People to kill with his callousness. You know, the typical."

The taiyoukai sniffed and began to work on the half-formed shoe again. Officially, Rooney was known as a 'middleman', the conduit between the dirt-poor, Irish tenants and the absentee, English earl that owned most of the county. Unofficially, he was called a 'blood-sucker' and far worse. He boasted of having evicted more families than any other man in Ireland, and he delighted in scooping up the last few of his tenants' belongings in order to pay rent and fees. Rooney, an Irishman himself, gloried in the pocketful of coins (and the bellyful of food) that came along with harassing his fellow countrymen. Sesshoumaru was certain that he had behaved no more honorably before he got the job - Rooney was the sort of person that could have gotten on famously with Naraku. "We will end up paying him for the privilege of shoeing his horse," he guessed. "He'll remember a new tax that he has not levied against us yet."

"I'm sure," agreed Kagome, "but turning business away will only raise suspicion. Rooney would find some excuse to make our lives hell if he even imagined we were disrespecting his lofty position of middleman."

"I do not believe he would bother with an excuse," said the dog demon.

Kagome leaned heavily on his workbench. "How much longer do we have to stay here?" she asked, her voice low and tired.

He glanced at the men still talking at the entrance the smithy and then, back at her. "We could leave immediately," he replied.

Predictably, her eyes lowered, and she shook her head. "No, we can't," she said with a sigh. "Don't tease. We can't wait for all this time to give up."

"I was not mocking you," Sesshoumaru said, pulling the horseshoe from the forge again. It glowed red-hot between them. "The shape-shifters will come to us elsewhere."

She smiled softly at him and put a hand on his forearm. "I can manage it. I'd feel worse if we left now and didn't accomplish anything. We should stay for long enough to make _some_ difference." She paused and glanced at the crowd. "Even if it's not for them."

"There is no one that will not be helped by the shape-shifters' deaths," said Sesshoumaru, "even if they are not aware of it. Since we cannot find the man pulling the strings of the Order and of Europe..."

"Lucas," Kagome said, although they both knew the name as well as their own.

He nodded and quickly hammered out a few, remaining places where the shoe needed to be smoothed. When the echo of the tool was silenced, he said, "Since we cannot find him, the shape-shifters will receive our attention for now."

"They've killed far fewer people than the English have with their inaction here," she muttered.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're beginning to sound like Flynn."

Her smile reappeared - this time, darkly amused. "Speaking of whom, I'll get rid of them," she said, straightening. "It's getting late, and we have other work to finish."

Sesshoumaru inspected the horseshoe one, final time and put it aside to cool, while Kagome softly announced that they were closing up shop for the night. The men shuffled out, looking like chastened teenagers - it was rare that she was so quiet and distant with them as she had been tonight. A couple hung back, receiving small words of encouragement and promises to visit their wives and children from Kagome. A witch she might be, but the men were all willing to invite her into their homes for the chance to have some of her sturdy health to rub off on their families.

"Someday, they will turn against you," warned Sesshoumaru, when the large, double doors had been shut behind the last of the men.

"No," she disagreed. "There were others that could deliver children and set bones and cure upset stomachs, but they've died."

He scoffed lightly. "They were witches in the townspeople's eyes, too. They may be Catholic, but they still believe in spirits and goblins. And witchcraft is easily blamed for the evil that befalls them. That _is_ befalling them." He glanced up at her. "And you look too different to be one of them."

She shrugged his concerns away, just as she always did. "Help me with this, and let's see if they're right about me," she said, although her joking words were weighted down with a gloomy tone.

He shed his heavy, leather blacksmith's apron and rolled his sleeves back down again. "I would prefer that you did not try," he muttered, although he knew it would do no good. He didn't even bother pausing in jumping up and pulling the bound tome from its place in the eaves of the thatched smithy. Loose papers fluttered as he set down and handed over the book. "This is an exercise in futility."

"That's not true."

"You have been working on this since Vienna," he said as she began to paw through the pages that were grungy from constant handling. "You need to accept that, although you may possess the determination, you do not have the capability."

Her eyes slanted towards him. "These things almost took you down," she said, waving a tattered slip of paper at him. After twenty-four years, it was crisp to the touch, but he could still read the words that had bound him, sucking him dry of his physical and demonic abilities in that house in Vienna. "If those awful men could do it, so can I. Since they _aren't_ sutras, like we originally thought, there should be no problem!"

"And yet, there is," he said. He plucked the paper from her fingers, ignoring her wince as it tore at the edges.

"Careful!"

He didn't listen - he would destroy it, if she let him. It had taken several days after leaving Vienna before they had felt secure enough to sit for a moment and examine the papers that she had torn off of him inside that burning house. He still remembered the way Kagome's eyes had widened in shock when she'd seen that the supposed sutras weren't sutras at all. Instead, Latin verses speaking of a single God, Satan and exorcism covered the pages. Sesshoumaru vaguely recognized that they were incantations from a grimoire - a book of _Christian_ magic, not Buddhist or Shinto. They were officially out of their element.

It had taken ages to track down their first grimoire, and it wasn't even the correct one. A few more years had brought them to _The Book of Abramelin_, a grimoire of intense complexity. Kagome, it turned out, liked nothing better than solving a puzzle. Sesshoumaru, however, didn't see the point her frenzy over them.

"If we could just figure out how to work these spells," Kagome said as she flipped through the book, "we could possibly bind those damn shape-shifters. Don't tell me it's of no use."

He dropped the paper onto the counter. "I would prefer that you practice your marksmanship."

She let out another sigh. Her guns were hidden away - such deeply ingrained skills as hers wouldn't fade easily, but it had been some time since she'd been able to shoot. Rifles were so rare in these days, and her stash - along with her remaining jewelry - was worth too much to expose by going to it often. "Not to mention," she continued as if he hadn't spoken, "if we encounter these things again, we'll be better equipped to deal with them if we know how they work."

Sesshoumaru couldn't deny that, but he remained unconvinced about the chances of success. "You are not Christian," he pointed out.

"I've pretended at it long enough," she said. "Besides, this thing promises wealth and invisibility and the power to fly. Those are some pretty hefty miracles for a mere man to undertake. I'm not sure that's what their God had in mind."

"Since when is righteousness required to use the magic of any religion?" he asked, thinking of the Buddhist monks that had fought to take away Rin. Their ignorance still grated on his memory.

She shook her head. "Never, I suppose." She turned a page. "The problem is that they've used this as a jumping off point, not a strict, step-by-step instruction manual. I might have to go through the entire ritual to make any of it work."

"And how long will that take?"

Kagome gave him the hard, little smile that she had been using so much lately. "Almost two years. Not a long time for us, but it's really restrictive. Constant devotions, no alcohol, chastity. That's just to begin with."

He arched an eyebrow. "Chastity," he repeated.

She gave a short bark of laughter. "I wish that one were more of a problem to keep these days."

A ridiculous image formed in Sesshoumaru's mind of Kagome pressing up against him, kissing his throat and wearing nothing. He pushed it away immediately - Kagome had remained close to him since their reunion, and he knew she hadn't taken a lover since her husband's death. She didn't seem bothered by it. She hadn't suggested that they go back to being brother and sister instead of husband and wife, which would free her to do as she pleased. Her mourning clearly had not come to an end, despite her jokes.

Out loud, he said, "If two years are required, you will not need me tonight." He stood.

"I'm not quite ready to go through all that," she said quickly, before he could make his escape. She pulled a short stack of freshly written spells from the back of the grimoire. "Be my guinea pig?"

He lowered himself to sit again, keeping an eye on how her fingertips began to glow pink. "This is not your brand of magic," he said, trying one, last time.

"I know," Kagome said, staring at the papers in her hand. A moment passed, and her eyes suddenly fixed on him. "But maybe it's yours?"

"As a demon, it is probably even less suited to me," he observed.

She shook her head. "This is magic that is learned, not innate. You're probably right - my holy powers are likely interfering. But for you, it'll be more like learning a new attack with your sword or something."

For twenty-four years, he had not offered to help her in casting these spells and for good reason. "Magic is not my gift," he murmured. It was a vast understatement - dog demons were not prone to having these abilities, but he'd been even more lacking than most. His mother had been distressed - she was unusually talented - but his father had simply shrugged and dismissed the tutor. His classes in swordsmanship doubled in turn, which was pleasing. He disliked having to admit to any failing.

Of course, he had never mentioned this to Kagome. "Perhaps you didn't have the right teacher," she said, sounding more hopeful than she had in a month.

He'd regret it one way or another, so Sesshoumaru decided to go with the choice that at least made one of them happy. He reached out and took the slips of paper as she smiled.

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At ten the next morning, Kagome was barely starting her day, shuffling around and rubbing at her eyes - his magical aptitude hadn't improved since childhood, and the majority of the night had been spent testing her patience. He didn't sleep at all - strictly speaking, neither of them needed to. But it was a human affectation of hers, and one he suspected she would never give up entirely. He was only surprised that she managed to do it with that tell-tale pull in the pit of her stomach - they'd both felt it last night. The shape-shifter was bearing down on them suddenly and quickly, although neither had actually said a word about it.

"No one has appeared," he said.

"You wouldn't have woken me up if there was," she accused with a sleepy smile. "Especially if it were Rooney."

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "You constantly advise me against the murder of humans that simply annoy me," he said. "Why should you be allowed to break that rule?"

"You don't want me to have all the fun," Kagome said, laughing lightly as she rolled her neck. Sleeping on straw could be rough on even an immortal's body.

He looked up at her as she stretched - she was still in her thin chemise. Even though the only light came from the open doors on the other end of their home, near the forge, he could see the outline of her figure. "You should get dressed," he murmured.

Kagome laughed again, although she didn't sound as amused this time. "For all the customers we have?" she asked.

_For my sake_, Sesshoumaru thought, his eyes skimming over her once again.

She caught him - he was rarely so obvious, and he could see that his careless slip startled her. "Sesshoumaru?" she began, bringing her arms up to cross over her chest. "Are you alright?"

He determinedly fixed his gaze to her face, vaguely annoyed that Kagome seemed to be putting him at a loss more and more often these days. And he'd been _staring_. But before he could answer - before he could even begin to formulate a convincing excuse - a collective cry reverberated through the entire village, so loud that Kagome heard it too.

"What was that?" she whispered, freezing in place.

Sesshoumaru took a step towards the door. "You should get dressed," he said again, not leaving any room for argument this time.

She scrambled into her dress, still tightening the bodice as they left the smithy. "Where?" she asked simply.

He took her by the arm and led her through the streets, almost at a run. The shouting grew more frantic, and the volume swelled, echoing through the village and bouncing off of every surface.

Kagome seemed to know before they saw it. "I should have talked to him more," she said several times on the way. "Calmed him down." His keen hearing told him that she was right, but she still gasped when they reached the town square.

A man was face-down on the ground, slick with dirt and blood. It was Rooney - their one customer of the day and the most hated man in the County Mayo.

"Where is his entourage?" Kagome muttered.

He pointed out the four policemen that normally accompanied Rooney on rent collections and evictions. Each man was already bound and gagged at the fringe of the crowd, enduring hurled insults but no kicks to the face or stomach just yet. "Safe, for the moment," he replied.

She looked furious. "I suppose we have to rescue him."

"If we wait much longer, there will not be much to rescue," Sesshoumaru observed.

Her mouth set into a determined, little frown as she plowed forward, pushing the rioting villagers aside. "Thomas!" she shouted. "Thomas, what are you doing?"

Flynn's head jerked up from where he had been glaring down at his victim. Sesshoumaru saw a flicker of guilt cross the man's face before he squared his shoulders. "You hate this bastard just as much as I do, Maeve," he growled.

"Yes," agreed the miko with a stiff nod, "but I was never planning on murdering him in the broad daylight, in full view of most of the villagers. We _talked_ about this sort of violence last night. We agreed!"

"You gave your opinion," snapped Flynn. Rooney was beginning to stir in the mud, groaning and flipping over to his back. "I have respected your wishes until now, Maeve, but I don't _have_ to obey!"

"It was for your safety!" replied Kagome. "Your family, Thomas! What will happen to them when you're hanged for murder?"

It was the wrong thing to say - Flynn's gaze hardened in an instant. "The same that will happen to them if I'm not," he seethed, turning his back on Kagome to deliver a swift kick to Rooney's ribs. The middleman gave a low moan. "He's evicted us. We're going to starve, just like the rest of them. Why should I wait for such an end? Why shouldn't I first deliver the blows that I can?"

Kagome's shoulders slumped. "Evicted? Thomas, I'm sorry. I didn't know," she said, stepping closer to him.

"The crops fail every damn year, and the little that is grown must be turned over in rent," muttered Flynn. "The workhouse is always full. And the earl does _nothing_. England does _nothing_. I am being thrown off the little land I have so that the earl can raise cattle and grow wheat, so that _he_ may make money. Am I supposed to watch my children die in the streets like the others so that he can line his pockets? I refuse, Maeve!"

Sesshoumaru scowled as Kagome's breath shuddered throughout her frame - every dead child was another pound of weight on her shoulders. She suffered from the overpowering guilt because she did not suffer from famine or fever.

"The new crop," Flynn continued, "is turning black already. The blight has returned in force."

"And so will the English troops, if you keep this up," Kagome sighed. She crouched over Rooney, putting a hand on his elbow.

"What are you doing?" demanded Thomas.

She scoffed lightly. "Saving you from yourself, Thomas," she replied. "I'm getting him out of here."

Flynn looked panicked. "No!" he breathed, pushing her back before she could react. She went sprawling into the mud with a cry.

Sesshoumaru moved between them in a blink, shoving Thomas backwards so far that three people toppled as they tried to jump out of the way. "You will not touch my wife again, Flynn," he snarled at the shocked man before turning back to the miko. He pulled her to her feet, assessing her with a sweep of his eyes. "Are you hurt?"

"Just a bit muddy, I promise," she whispered, her voice shaking only a bit. He couldn't tell if she was more startled by his concern or by Flynn's sudden, murderous desires. "But we need to get Rooney out of here. I don't think logic is going to rule the day this time." She glanced down at the middleman, who was still unconscious and bleeding.

The taiyoukai hauled Rooney to his feet, slinging the injured man's arm over his shoulder. He could smell death lurking at the edges of his scent - survival would be a test of endurance he wasn't certain the human could pass. Still, his demise would serve no purpose. He knew that revenge rarely provided full satisfaction of a pain.

"Liam! You promised you would help!" called Thomas. "Please, understand! Lucas will _pay_ us for his death!"

Every villager fell silent for a long, tense moment before erupting. _Payment_. It meant the ability to buy food for their children, pay off their back rent, buy back their farming equipment and the seed potatoes for a fresh crop. Everything would be solved, was the common refrain, if only they had money.

Kagome and Sesshoumaru froze for a different reason. "Lucas?" Kagome asked. "Oh _no._"

The taiyoukai scanned the faces that were surging towards him. "He must be here."

The miko was already stalking over to Flynn, dragging him up by the collar as the villagers flowed past her. "Where is Lucas? When did he talk to you? What did he say?"

"He's a revolutionary!" replied the Irishman. "He wants to help us, Maeve!"

"You are so foolish, Thomas," she shot back, her tone becoming shrill. "He just wants you to commit murder for him."

Sesshoumaru listened to the exchange as best as he could while he shoved away the approaching villagers. Rooney was taking up the use of one arm, but that was nothing new to the taiyoukai - what _was_ uncomfortable was the fact that he couldn't harm them. The townspeople didn't want to fight their towering blacksmith either, but the promise of money was too good to pass up. They grabbed at the middleman, trying to drag him out of Sesshoumaru's vise-like grip. "Maeve!" he growled loudly as the sunken, starved faces began to crowd in around him.

She fought her way back to his side - weak, Irish peasants were no match for Kagome's strong limbs. "Don't be stupid!" she shouted as she went. "No one is getting paid for murdering this man!"

"I could have told them that," observed Sesshoumaru dryly.

"I'm not going to hurt them!" she said, bracing her forearm across the chest of a middle-aged man and forcing him back.

A rock arched over the heads of the villagers and glanced off of the taiyoukai's shoulder. "I wasn't suggesting that." He met her eyes as he plucked another rock out of the air. "But perhaps your witchcraft can _finally_ be of use to us."

She stared for a second. "Just like that?" she asked. "We'd have to leave."

"I think," he growled as he planted a foot against young woman and shoved her away, "we have already diminished our standing in this village." He looked at her. "We cannot be complicit in this act of insanity."

It took her a moment to assess the mob and come to the same conclusion. "I hate him so much," she murmured, sending a scathing glance towards the middleman.

Rooney was beginning to come around, and the crowd seemed to sense it, roaring with anger. "You should make it a good show," Sesshoumaru shouted. "Sooner, rather than later!"

He tried to stay still as her power began to crackle over his skin. She raised her hands to the sky and began to chant, in Japanese, a short prayer to the gods - perhaps the only one she still remembered after such a long time apart from her traditional role. When the pink light engulfed her arms and flowed down over her body, the mob paused and stepped back. They were, as Sesshoumaru had said, believers in magic and legends. He wasn't surprised to hear the wave of whispers, speculating in awe what this interloper could be - changeling or sorceress, demon or goddess.

A dome arced over Sesshoumaru's head, enclosing the three of them inside a secure barrier. The purification power singed his flesh and hair, but he was able to lower Rooney to the ground again. "Will it block them effectively?" he asked.

"That question is a little late," Kagome breathed, lowering her arms. "But yes. A barrier is a barrier. Unfortunately, it will also keep us _in_."

He crouched over Rooney's body, keeping away from the wall of purifying light. "I do not think they would cross you if you dropped the barrier now," he observed, glancing out at the frightened faces of the villagers.

She was looking too. "I've suddenly become a monster to them," she said with a sigh.

"You become accustomed to it," Sesshoumaru muttered.

Kagome shook her head. "I don't think so. You just learned to enjoy the benefits that went along with such a reputation. I could never do that."

He conceded that point with a nod. "It was likely to be revealed when the shape-shifter inevitably came, anyway."

"True," she agreed. "It's closer than we thought, too. I can feel it." She put a hand over her stomach, clearly feeling that rare, but familiar, tug that told them another immortal was close. It was bothering him, too. "This could be a case of really terrible timing."

Rooney groaned and rolled over, opening his eyes. "What?" he croaked, lifting a hand and rubbing it across his dirty and bloodied face. "Liam Doyle? The rutting blacksmith?"

"There's gratitude for you," muttered Kagome from where she stalked along the perimeter of her barrier.

"Ugh, and your rutting wife," sneered Rooney. His voice was muffled by his fat lip. "Don't tell me that the two of you pulled me out of that."

"Not so much 'out' as 'away from'," Sesshoumaru said, trying not to growl back at the injured man. "You're not quite _out_ of it."

He twisted his head, frowning at the pink light that encased them. "What in the..."

"You need to inspect his wounds," interrupted the taiyoukai, addressing Kagome. "He likely has internal bleeding."

She sat down with a flounce of skirts and pressed two fingers into the soft flesh of Rooney's stomach, eliciting a screech of pain. "Likely," she agreed flatly. Switching to Japanese - a sign of her still soft heart, despite her abhorrence for the man himself - she continued, "If it is, he's probably going to die. He'll need a proper surgeon, not just a nurse like me. Even if I tried, I can't fix anything without cutting him open, and this place doesn't really provide a clean operating room, you know?"

Rooney quickly turned and vomited, barely missing Sesshoumaru's knees. Kagome arched an eyebrow. "_That_ is definitely a bad sign."

The taiyoukai stood, barely suppressing the urge to wrinkle his nose. "So I see."

"What witchery are you two putting on me?" moaned Rooney.

"On you?" Kagome sniffed. "That's rich!"

Sesshoumaru watched the crowd as the miko examined and traded barbs with the foul-mouthed middleman. It seemed that she felt the need to keep him awake - an unfortunate circumstance, since the taiyoukai didn't care for Rooney any more than the villagers did. At least it distracted him somewhat from the upcoming battle. The pull within him was strengthening, urging him to step out of the barrier to meet the approaching shape-shifter. He had to agree with Kagome - it was awful timing. They might be saving the Thomas Flynn and the villagers from themselves, only to let them meet the claws of an immortal.

He closed his eyes for a moment. "It's here."

"How do _they_ know that?" Kagome whispered.

Something had torn the townsfolk's attention away from the most elaborate display of magic they'd ever seen. "That is... unsettling," Sesshoumaru murmured, moving to the edge of the dome. The crowd had closed around them and turned to something that, even at his height, he could not yet see. It was what they were saying that disturbed him so greatly. "It seems that Lucas himself has arrived."

She was suddenly at his side. "Both of them?" she asked. "I suppose it's too much to hope that they'll kill each other?"

"... seen your plight, and I have come to answer it!" came a strong voice through the crowd.

He didn't believe in such coincidences. Sesshoumaru scowled as realization began to dawn. "I don't think that would be wise for either the Order or the shape-shifter."

"... England has done nothing, but Ireland could care for itself if not for the true menace..."

He saw the shiver that went down her spine. "Why is that?" It sounded as if she had forced herself to ask.

The taiyoukai's hands curled into fists as the villagers parted to let the speaker through. "Because," he growled as a barrel-chested, red-haired man came into view, "Lucas _is_ the shape-shifter."

"The witch is the cause of all your troubles!" finished Lucas at the same time, pointing directly at Kagome.

In any other circumstances, Sesshoumaru was sure Kagome would have made a caustic comment about how tired that accusation was becoming. At the moment, however, she could only stand in shock. He wasn't even sure that she had heard him, but it didn't matter - the fact that the shape-shifter stood before them was immutable. So was the fact that he was also the one called Lucas, one of the most malicious members of the Order.

"H-how?" she managed after a moment.

"How could a demon work for the Order?" Sesshoumaru murmured, keeping a steady eye on Lucas as he carefully circled Kagome's barrier. "Or how could we not have noticed before? I cannot answer either one."

Lucas was still staring at her. "You have a woman that can do _this_ in your village, and you wonder why your crops have turned black and poisoned?" he shouted. "You wonder why your children are sick and dying? You ask why you can't manage to keep bread in your own stomachs? You have harbored a witch! It cannot be borne!"

"Any bright ideas?" muttered Kagome.

"None that do not endanger every villager here," Sesshoumaru replied. "He holds them hostage now, whether they know it or not."

"I and my compatriots have not forgotten the old ways," continued Lucas. "These ancient evils have risen again to curse your lands and your fortunes. But if you join us, you will help rid Ireland of them and be paid for it, too! You will serve your country and your family! How could you ask for more?"

Kagome pulled away from his side before he could stop her. "They could ask not to become murderers!" she yelled. "These are good people, and you're tempting them like the snake you are!"

The shape-shifter smirked and leaned in as close as the barrier would allow. "And you're protecting the one of the few men whose death is not only deserved but could ease these people's suffering," he said.

"Do not answer him," said Sesshoumaru, pulling her back.

"But he is trying to recruit them!" she muttered, switching to Danish - their code language of choice.

He nodded. "And if you sway them back to their senses, he will undoubtedly kill them."

She sagged against him. "I don't ever want to have to kill these people for being members of the Order," she whispered.

"You would, at least, be merciful," he said. "If it ever came to that."

Some of the strength flowed back into her limbs as she pushed back against him. "Yes," she said slowly, "because I am not the evil one here. _He_ is. And yet, he's pretending that he's not."

"Do you see?" shouted Lucas. "They talk in tongues! The Devil has laid his hand on them!"

Kagome ignored the shape-shifter's outburst. "I don't want to go out as just a witch," she said, turning to Sesshoumaru. "I want to be a _wicked_ witch."

He tightened his jaw. "I can see this ending poorly," he muttered, "although, I suppose that is an improvement over the catastrophe we're promised at the moment."

"Great," Kagome said, lifting her chin. "Let's be bad guys."

Sesshoumaru hoisted the barely-conscious Rooney over one shoulder, choosing silence over expressing his doubts that Kagome could ever act as a convincing practitioner of the black arts. Still, she had surprised him before, on more than one occasion. Besides, she only needed to convince the villagers to whom she had already been lying for three years.

The barrier shimmered and dropped like water spilling off of glass. The crowd gasped and backed away as the pink light returned to Kagome's skin. "If Satan has given me his unholy blessing," she snapped, "then you must fear me! If I have spread a plague across this land and turned your crops into rot, then what stops me from doing the same to you?" She spun, baring her teeth to the villagers. "To _all_ of you? How would you like to rot where you stand?"

A few women screeched as a scramble began, even before Kagome began to summon the bulk of her power. Tendrils of pink light soon wrapped around her, feeling outwards and pushing the crowd farther back. Sesshoumaru kept still again, watching as some wisps curled around him, without touching his body, to protect him from any attack.

She was burning hot - the corona of light almost blinded him. If Sesshoumaru had felt his flesh tingling before, now it was as if someone was holding a thousand pokers to his skin. But he could also hear her rapid breath and smell the hint of salty tears - Kagome said that cruelty could sometimes be kind, but he was fairly certain that threatening to slaughter the people that had called her 'friend' for so many years was not what she'd been thinking of.

It had the desired effect though. Lucas couldn't do a thing - he had quickly established himself as the champion of the common man, and the common man certainly couldn't tangle with a powerful witch. He would be committing the ultimate hypocrisy if he revealed his own demonic abilities now.

At the same time, they couldn't risk attacking him. Leaving it at a standstill was one thing, but provoking a response would most certainly end in the deaths of several villagers. It would have to be a draw.

Kagome turned and looked over her shoulder - not at him, but at Thomas Flynn. Sesshoumaru saw the apology in her eyes as the pink light began to fade, but she had the sense not to vocalize it. She could only hope for the best for him. "It's time to leave," she said instead.

Sesshoumaru stepped up behind Kagome as her purification powers receded, keeping a watchful eye on Lucas, who was edging closer as well.

"This is so unsatisfying," Lucas rumbled, smiling. "I look forward to meeting you again, girl."

Kagome trembled in his arms, lashing out as he lifted her off the ground. "We killed your two awful children, and we'll kill you, too!" she shouted down at him in Japanese.

Only a laugh answered them, and the miko drew back in cowed horror. "He doesn't care!" she whispered. "He's... he's..." She shook her head, seemingly unable to come up with anything that could properly encompass the shape-shifter's villainy.

Sesshoumaru frowned, glancing down at the gleeful shape-shifter. "A monster."

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He stood on the hill above the seashore, trying to think - to _breathe_ - again after the longest day he had had in years.

Lucas was the shape-shifter. The shape-shifter had infiltrated the Order. Indeed, he had helped shape the hateful organization. And although the other surviving immortal hadn't been there, Sesshoumaru would bet that she was involved as well.

The implications were enormous. What had the shape-shifters told the Order? Did the Order know that Lucas was, in fact, the very creature they hunted? Did the Order know about the curse and their immortality? Did they know that Kagome was human? A thousand questions swirled within the taiyoukai's head, but they all inevitably led to one conclusion - this was extremely dangerous situation. It had been enough to have two, powerful enemies. Combining them into one could be lethal, even to him and Kagome.

And the disaster wasn't confined to his battle against the shape-shifters. Mysteries began to solve within Sesshoumaru's mind - the failures of the Alliance over the past centuries began to lock with the reasons behind them.

"_Damn fool_," he growled, his hands curling in search of something to rip apart. It was so obvious now. Only another demon could have accurately identified so many of those that the Alliance had lost. Only another demon could teach humans to exploit their weaknesses with such deadly efficiency. And only one of the immortals could track _him_. He should have figured that out back in Moscow.

"Sesshoumaru."

Kagome was standing just a few feet behind him, frowning deeply and with fresh clothes in her hand. He didn't ask where she had bought them - probably the same hovel where she had left Rooney. He was sure she paid far too many of their precious coins to the family that could do nothing but watch the middleman die of internal injuries, but he didn't feel like asking about that either. He felt petulant and childish and a million other things that he didn't think he could feel at all anymore.

The miko, on the other hand, seemed chillingly calm, if not a little annoyed. He would have assumed she was the shape-shifter if she didn't exude such a powerful pulse of her recently used holy powers. "I told them that he was a vagrant we found in the streets. No one knows him in this county," she said, clearly trying to draw him into conversation.

He ignored the attempt and stripped off the coat and shirt that had been covered in Rooney's blood in exchange for the new ones. He threw the ruined ones into the sea and started to walk south along the shore.

Kagome followed, not appearing to mind the quiet or Sesshoumaru's punishing pace. The only time she spoke was to offer to carry their few possessions - their weapons, the grimoire and her notes, and her jewelry. He refused with a shake of his head, and they continued on until the moon set.

She veered off the path sharply when only the stars were left. "I can't see," she pointed out, not looking back. She wasn't going to accept arguments about it. "And you need rest."

Sesshoumaru nodded and climbed into a small dip in the green grass that was protected from the wind and into which Kagome had already settled. He set their belongings down and sat beside her, looking back towards the sea.

"So? Figure anything out?" she asked, cocking her head with a serious expression, although she couldn't have seen much more than the outline of his body. Despite the long walk, she seemed tense, hovering for his reply.

His mouth felt dry, and he could only shake his head in the negative again. It had all been the same, over the miles they traversed - variations on the theme of how tremendously he had erred by not realizing what the shape-shifters had been up to.

He heard her sigh and the rustle of her skirts. "Me neither," she said before her hands slid over his shoulders and her legs swung over to straddle his lap.

Sesshoumaru's palms immediately met her knees, ready to push her off of him. "What are you doing?" he rasped.

"Oh, you _can_ speak," Kagome murmured. This close, he knew she could see his eyes. "I thought you'd been struck dumb."

"What are you _doing_?" he asked again, clearer this time.

"It's so silly," she said with a shrug. "I was thinking about it. What is sex really about?"

It was _that_ word. The word that he avoided putting in the same sentence - in the same _room_ - as Kagome for ages. It was so sudden that his mind refused to kick back into gear. "Procreation," he said after a moment, annoyed that he sounded breathless again.

She smiled. "Yeah, that would be your answer," she said. "But you're wrong. It's about comfort. Even for people who love each other, it's mostly about giving the other one some comfort that they're still there, although one day, they won't be."

"I have no need for comfort," he snapped, his hands tightening around the curve of her knees again.

"What if _I_ do?" Kagome asked. She leaned forward, her breasts pressing against him, and left a lingering kiss on his corner of his down-turned mouth. "Are you really that opposed to that?"

He grasped her arms and pushed her back a few, precious inches and tried to regain his senses. "I am too angry for your _comfort_," he growled. He couldn't meet her eyes as she continued to watch him. "I would not want to hurt you."

She ducked her head down, and he could see her face - serious but soft. She knew that he was thinking of Tortuga and what had happened to her there. "Are you angry with me?" she asked.

"What reason would I have for that?"

Kagome shook free of his loosening hold. "Then, it's not the same." She kissed him again on his brow. "I told you. This isn't about anger. It's about solace. It's so silly that we have this constant companion in each other and we haven't taken advantage of that. Don't you think?"

His fingers tightened around her arms again. "I do at the moment," he breathed but still holding her back.

She touched her lips to the only place she could reach - the tip of his nose. "And there was that moment this morning, before everything started," she murmured. He tried not to notice the flush of her cheeks or the way her skin was warming underneath his hands. "Don't lie, Sesshoumaru."

"We have been a bit busy since this morning. Has it only been in the last few hours that you considered this a solution to my silence?" he asked.

"It wasn't the first time I've _considered_ any of this, no," Kagome said, leaning forward into his chest as his arms began to give way. She put her mouth next to his ear. "I'm hardly the innocent, little girl you met three centuries ago. You're not going to break me."

"I could," he said, trying to sound threatening and failing.

She shook her head, and her silky hair brushed against his throat. "You _won't_."

It wasn't supposed to be like this. He'd so carefully avoided any thoughts of Kagome in his bed, but he knew that this wasn't what he would have imagined, if he'd given himself the chance. She was seducing him - _distracting_ him. It wasn't the way things were done. It wasn't the way _he_ did things. But even if he could never say that he wanted her comfort, he wouldn't stop her from giving it.

His palms slid up her thighs, beneath her skirt, and he heard her sharp intake of breath, as if she hadn't believed that he would do anything but spurn her. When she kissed him, however, it was full of her confidence. He had to agree that she wasn't the doe-eyed, virgin miko of Edo any longer - she stripped them both with steady, experienced hands. He could hardly remember the last time he'd had a female in his bed - or anywhere else, for that matter - and Kagome's calm control was already threatening to overpower him.

With a swift twist of his body, Kagome was beneath him. She only had a moment to smile at him before he had her arching her back and letting out a silent cry. He wasn't gentle, but neither was she. They soon had complementary scratches - his on his shoulders from her dull, human nails, and hers on her hips from where his claws had pricked her.

Her body rebelled against his fierceness and his intrusion, and her skin began to spark against his. Even as she pressed herself closer to him, she murmured an apology.

"_Don't_," he said through clenched teeth as he buried his nose in the curve of her neck. Her purification power felt like a thousand needles piercing his flesh, but he wouldn't ask for anything different.

He had been blind - so blind to so many clues. Lucas might have contributed to the death of his own species, but it was his own oversight that had allowed it. And although he needed the comfort of the woman beneath him, he hardly deserved it. Guilt was such a rare feeling for him, but it ravaged him when it made an appearance. The last time he had been pinned down by such weighty sins, he had slaughtered an entire ship's crew.

"Sesshoumaru," Kagome whispered, breaking into his thoughts. He caught her gaze as her hands slid up the sides of his neck and her hips rose to meet his.

The taiyoukai sank down, his lips touching her cheek. Her scent surrounded him and, although her powers still stabbed at him, he managed to forget for several, precious minutes. Nothing was loving, and nothing was tender, except her few, breathy words. But after it was over and he had collapsed on the grass, he didn't feel as if the weight of the world was crushing him anymore. She must have expected and wanted just that - she gave him a small, knowing smile as his muscles relaxed.

And when dawn broke, he found that he had actually slept and that Kagome was stretched out beside him in only her chemise. She was leaning back on her elbows, watching the sky turn pink, but not touching a single strand of his fanned, silver hair.

"You remained awake?" he murmured.

Kagome shrugged. "You deserved the rest." She handed him his shirt and shook out the wrinkles from her dress. "Are we headed to Dublin?"

That wasn't the first question he expected from her. "We will have a choice of our next destination from there," he replied.

She saw him staring as she pulled on her clothing and smiled. "Is something wrong?"

"You are not asking about my feelings about yesterday," Sesshoumaru observed, trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible, "or about last night."

"I know you better than that," she laughed. "Why? Did you want me to nag you about it?"

"No," he answered in a half-truth. The taiyoukai preferred clarity over the muddled emotions that frequently arose in these situations. He had very little concept of where he and Kagome stood now.

"Well, _I'm_ not worried," the miko said with a shake of her head. "In fact, I think it might be even easier this way. We take out the two remaining shape-shifters, and the Order will probably fall on its own. And even if it doesn't, we have forever. They don't. We'll find them."

Sesshoumaru stood up and tugged his shirt over his head. "Your optimism is blissfully simple," he muttered.

"Your sarcasm is just making me more cheerful," she said, "because I know you're back to being yourself."

He studied her as she fussed with her hair and gathered their things. She still had that calm control that she had the previous night, although he wasn't sure if he still approved of it. He was glad there were no expectations on her part - no declarations or demands of love or anything as prosaic as that. At the same time, Sesshoumaru didn't care for the entirely disaffected way she carried herself - it wasn't Kagome, but an act. She was far too human to disassociate sex and feelings entirely. If he let it pass without comment, she would keep up the act forever.

"Ready?" she asked, once she had put on her shoes.

"Kagome."

"Hm?"

He tried not to clench his jaw. "Thank you," he muttered.

She gave him a bright smile that held no regret. "Anytime, Sesshoumaru," she said, before blushing slightly. "I mean, I'm here. As a friend, you know?"

Sesshoumaru nodded - the small glimmer of hope in her eyes had said far more than her words.

8888888888888888888888888888888

A/N: One of Kagome's lines in this chapter is a direct quote of one of my favorite characters from one of my favorite movies - Jayne Cobb in Serenity. Find either one and get a cookie. (It shouldn't be hard!) ;P

Anyway...

First, the names. Sesshoumaru is called Liam, which mean "strong-willed warrior". Maeve means "intoxicating". And their surname is Doyle, which means "dark foreigner". I thought that last one was fitting, especially.

Second, historical notes! You know I have 'em:

The Great Famine of Ireland started in 1845 and continued, on and off, for seven years. A million Irish died. Another million or more emigrated, mostly to the United States (which contributed to a wave of xenophobia and bigotry against the Irish that lasts to this day). The population of Ireland has only just reached pre-Famine levels - after 150 years!

The problem started with the blight - a highly contagious mold - that destroyed potato crops. The poor lived off of potatoes, which provide most (but not all) of the nutrients the body needs, because they were cheap to buy and cultivate. Most of them were already living under the thumbs of landlords - absentee landlords that usually lived in England as part of the aristocracy. (In fact, almost the entire County Mayo, where Castlebar is located, was owned by one man - the Earl of Lucan. I was going to have a subplot about how close that name resembles Lucas, but it got confusing. But now you know why I put them in County Mayo, which suffered some of the highest casualties from the Famine in all of Ireland.) Parliament's reaction to the blight varied, depending on the year. Sometimes they set up poorly funded soup kitchens or public works projects that built roads to nowhere. Sometimes, they sent bread (which is not nearly as nutritious as potatoes) or money. But the worst thing that they did was *nothing*. That's right - in 1846, Lord John Russell became Prime Minister and decided that the Irish and the economy would work out the little kinks on their own, without any interference from the government. The best part was that when they saw that sticking their heads in the sand wasn't working or feeding anyone, they decided to help again - but only if the Irish paid for it. By this, they meant that the landlords had to pay even higher taxes than they already paid on their land. In turn, the landlords instructed the middlemen, who were already hated for squeezing the last coins from the poor, to get even more money out of Ireland. Those who couldn't pay were evicted and sometimes sent to America on what would come to be called as "coffin ships". You can imagine what went on there.

Ireland wasn't the only country having problems in 1848. A series of revolutions were going on, all across Europe. It was mostly the poor and disenfranchised rebelling against the rich. Ireland tried to get in on the game but the rebellion failed utterly - as did most of the others, even if it took awhile longer. Only the French managed lasting progress, and even then, it depends how loosely you define "progress".


	16. 1867: Matsue

A/N: Eight months away from this story, and you guys still gave me more than I ever deserved! (If I forgot someone/something - tell me! I'm a certified scatterbrain!)

Rootslove did three fabulous fanarts for _The Broken Miko_:  
A lovely cover art - rootslove[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]The-Broken-Miko-166760676  
An adorable portrait of Rin and my OC Washi - rootslove[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]Caught-in-the-rain-166888160  
And Kagome and Sesshoumaru using Tetsusaiga - rootslove[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]TBM-Kagome-s-Training-167836202

SadieB798 sketched several wonderful scenes from _The Once and Future Taiyoukai_:  
A lovely, sleeping Sesshoumaru - sadieb798[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]art[slash]Fall-SessxKag-166360398  
The darling couple cuddling in a cave - sadieb798[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]#/d2r295c  
A scene from the beginning with Sesshoumaru carrying Kagome - sadieb798[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]#[slash]d2rojeg  
Sess and Kag kicking ass - sadieb798[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]?offset=144#[slash]d2r2bqa  
A happy moment close to the end (a bit of a spoiler, if you haven't read the story) - sadieb798[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]#[slash]d2rom28  
And the ending (also a spoiler, but only for the obvious, lol) - sadieb798[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]#[slash]d2ru69q

Sessymaru did three sketches of Kagome in her outfits from this story and a scene:  
Looking dangerous in her pirate gear - sessymaru[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]#[slash]d2sz9u3  
And the adorable tomboy!assassin!Kagome - sessymaru[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]#[slash]d2szahj  
Sweet moment - .com/gallery/#/d2szzm5

TaiKaze drew a lovely reveal moment of _Thousandfurs_ - taikaze[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]#[slash]d32flhw

Storytellersdaughter did a gorgeous portrait of Kagome from the Surat chapter of this story - storytellersdaughter[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]#[slash]d33p0fc

And you could have knocked me down with a feather about this first - _The Once and Future Taiyoukai_ was cosplayed at Anime North 2010! The delightful risemboolranger3190 dressed as Kagome and got a friend to play the part of young Sesshoumaru. Go and look at their awesome cosplay - risemboolranger3190[dot]deviantart[dot]com[slash]gallery[slash]#The-Once-and-Future-Taiyoukai

Finally, this fic received a few awards in the 2nd Quarter awards at Dokuga:

1st Place - Best Action/Adventure  
1st Place - Best Canon  
2nd Place - Best Romance (And _The Nightingale_ got 3rd place in this category!)

Holy wow, guys! Thank you so much! :D I would gush more, but these notes fill a page, lol. You'll be happy with a new chapter, right? ;)

**Beside You in Time**  
**1867: Matsue, Japan**

In the middle of the verdant field that sloped down to the lake shore, Kagome felt something prick at her senses. Trepidation filled her, like seeing someone about to take a nasty tumble down the stairs and being unable to warn them to watch their step. And although not the sickening pull of a shape-shifter, the shade of the maple tree became cold instead of comforting, and she felt the need to pull the collar of her kimono higher. Nothing else moved.

"Kagome-sama? Are you alright?"

The miko's eyes snapped to the woman next to her. "Yes. Sorry, Rin," she said, giving a faint smile. She glanced back towards the lake, where Kikyo was still in the midst of her lesson with the children. The other miko didn't appear troubled, and neither did any of her adopted sons or daughters, all with varying degrees of demon blood and senses to match. That should have been enough to calm her nerves, but Sesshoumaru wouldn't be back for awhile yet. He would be the one to tell her that she was imagining things in that unequivocal tone of his. "It's nothing," she added, mostly for her own benefit.

She studied the smooth surface of Lake Shinji and the large, rambling village that sat on its edge and knew that she was being ridiculous - she and her companions were, by far, the most unusual and potentially dangerous creatures for miles. Kagome shook her head clear and leaned back against the tree trunk, ready to close her eyes again. Rin, however, was still watching her intently. "Everything's fine," she reassured her, keeping her voice strong.

"I'm certain it is," Rin said, but her anxious expression didn't ease.

"Well," said Kagome slowly, "is there something else?"

The younger woman nodded hesitantly, and Kagome got the feeling that Rin had been biting her tongue over this for awhile. "I've been meaning to ask you about Lord Sesshoumaru, Kagome-sama."

The miko sat up, giving the other woman a wary look. "What about him, exactly?"

Rin relaxed a little, allowing a smile. "Not about _you_ and Sesshoumaru-sama," she assured. "I think that Lord Inuyasha gives you enough trouble about that."

"He doesn't give _me_ any trouble. He reserves that for Sesshoumaru," Kagome said, rolling her eyes and leaning back again. She hoped they weren't killing each other instead of getting their work done this afternoon. It had been less problematic than she had expected - especially considering the initial, loud rant Inuyasha had launched into when he'd smelled his brother's scent all over her. But Sesshoumaru had been testy lately, and Inuyasha had exceedingly bad timing with his pointed remarks.

"Which is why I don't want to bother him with this, too," said Rin. "But I need to know if he's still angry with me about my affair with Shippo."

Kagome blinked. "Rin, that was so long ago."

"What does a hundred years matter to Sesshoumaru-sama?" asked Rin. "Has he ever forgotten a slight against him in all your time together?"

The miko nodded. "Alright. Valid point. But Sesshoumaru doesn't hide his anger." She smiled. "He's practically been chatty with you these past couple of weeks. For him, anyway."

Rin let out the breath that she had been holding. "I suppose," she conceded.

"He doesn't discuss his _feelings_ with me either," Kagome said, arching an amused brow. "Still, I'm fairly certain that all he wants is for you to be happy. And aren't you?"

The young woman's hands fell to the slight swell of her stomach as a contented smile graced her lips. "Very much so," she answered with a tenderness that made Kagome's heart twist within her chest. "I guess that I want to know that he understands that I never meant to dishonor him."

"These things happen," the miko said. She'd long given up her own disappointment in Shippo for the affair - he had punished himself enough. It seemed that Rin was no different. "They _shouldn't_, but they do. I mean, it was incredibly foolish on both of your parts, but you're not infallible."

"It's not that I ever stopped loving Suoh. Sesshoumaru-sama was more generous than I could have asked. I was the one that chose my husband," Rin murmured, smoothing kimono over her front. "And that makes my actions all the more dishonorable."

"Then why did you do it?" asked Kagome.

Rin frowned. "I could give a dozen answers. That Suoh was always busy or that Shippo was the only kind face in the castle while so many were consumed with hating humans. But they're all excuses. I was being selfish. That's all."

"Realizing your mistake is more than most people manage," the priestess said.

"I know, but there are some moments that I do not regret. That I will never regret, even though I should." Rin took a breath. "Do you believe that it's possible to love two men at once, Kagome-sama?"

"Yes." The answer was immediate, surprising even the miko.

Her companion glanced at her and fell silent for a few seconds. "Who was the other one?" Rin whispered.

"My husband," replied Kagome, equally quiet.

If the younger woman was shocked, she didn't show it. "I'm sorry, Kagome-sama," she murmured. "I didn't know."

Kagome tried to plaster a smile on her face. "It's fine. It was a long time ago," she said, consciously forcing herself not to touch the place where her ruby wedding ring lay against her skin, underneath her kimono.

"Does Sesshoumaru-sama..."

"Like I said before," interrupted the miko, "he doesn't discuss his feelings with me. I give him the same consideration."

Rin gave a resigned sigh, and Kagome knew that the other woman understood - who would know better about dealing with cold exterior of the taiyoukai, after all? "How is Shippo?" she asked instead, a few moments later.

"Safe," replied Kagome, trying to relax again. "He's out in the American West, keeping a low profile as a ranch hand."

"A cowboy," Rin murmured, the foreign word coming out slowly. "He told me those stories. He said that you told him all about the wild west when he was young, and he wanted nothing more than to see if they were true." The concern filtered back into her eyes. "Is he happy, Kagome-sama?"

"I believe so," said the miko, covering Rin's hand with her own. "It took him awhile, but he's back to his old self."

"I worry all the time that I ruined his life," said the young woman.

Kagome shook her head. "The both of you chose a path you knew was dangerous. It was a change for him to leave Japan. Not good or bad - just different. Stop putting all this guilt on yourself."

"I could bear even Sesshoumaru-sama's disapproval if the punishments only came down on _my _shoulders. But Shippo suffered the most for my sake." She let a long breath and met Kagome's eyes. "I don't suppose there's any chance that he'll ever be permitted to come back?"

The miko wondered where the sunny little girl in the checkered kimono had gone. Then again, the last few centuries hadn't been easy on any of them - she shouldn't have expected Rin to remain unchanged. "No," she said. "I tried, Rin-chan, but Sesshoumaru said that he couldn't manage it, even if he wanted to."

"Which he doesn't," Rin interjected.

Kagome shrugged. "They're not on friendly terms with each other. It was for good reason that Shippo left for America when I decided to rejoin Sesshoumaru," she said. "But because of the Western Lands losing its physical presence, Sesshoumaru's remaining subjects are scattering. He couldn't possibly be assured of telling all of them that Shippo wasn't to be killed on sight. I'd rather have him exiled forever than accidentally executed."

Rin swallowed thickly and nodded as she looked out over the lake. "I don't think this would the best time to return anyway," she murmured.

"No kidding," sighed the miko, following Rin's gaze. The town seemed so peaceful today, but like the rest of Japan, its people churned with unrest. The Shogun's ancestral line had branched off from the samurai that ruled this area, but the present leader supported the emperor. It was a mess of a situation, and the allegiances were divided amongst neighbors and families. Last week, a shopkeeper had been beaten half to death in a street fight.

"What's going to happen?"

Kagome bit her lip - she and Sesshoumaru had agreed a long time ago that details about the future were to be closely guarded. But Rin's concerns stemmed from concern for her family and her friends instead of the desire to use the knowledge for her own purposes, and so, Kagome easily gave in. "The shogunate is on its last legs," she said softly. "The emperor will take power, and Japan will be united under him."

Rin frowned - she had never been in a Japan without a shogun and the feudal system that he operated. But that was not the most pressing concern. "Will _he_ stop the Black Ships?" she asked.

The miko hesitated. The Black Ships had stood as the symbol of the turbulent politics of the past few decades - when foreigners arrived from the West and began making aggressive demands on Japan, the shogunate had shut down the borders. They had unknowingly protected youkai from the full strength of the Order, whose members had been trickling in with trading ships for years. But the West had continued their aggression, threatening full war with their superior weaponry if the shogunate didn't concede to opening the borders again. The entire country had rumbled with violence - loyalties fractured, the uncontrolled trade made the economy go into a tailspin, thousands starved and many more died of the foreign-born cholera.

But for all of that evil, the Black Ships were also a mark of the future - the Japan that Kagome knew was barreling down on them. "No," she answered at last. "They'll come for a long time yet."

"No wonder Sesshoumaru-sama wants us to leave," sighed Rin, covering her eyes.

"He knew that it was coming. He's been preparing for this for years," Kagome said. "Humans barely believe in demons anymore. How could they be expected to respect the Western Lands' power?"

"I just never thought that he'd give in," whispered the young woman, the childish faith that she had in him creeping into her voice.

The miko shook her head. "It's just the physical borders that are gone, Rin-chan. I think he realized that having land means nothing compared to protecting his subjects. To protecting you." She smiled. "He knows what's important, even if he'll never admit it."

It was a cheerful picture of the truth. Sesshoumaru had been taking the West apart, piece by piece, for decades - she had been surprised that he had started even before they met again in Moscow. Kagome knew that he had considered fighting the bleak future that she had painted for him. But, in the end, they had agreed that it would only be railing against the inevitable. The youkai under his protection had seen it, too - they faded away, into simpler lives disguised as humans and to other lands. The death of the feudal system and Japan's new place on the world stage had crushed the old life. Youkai couldn't hide in plain sight anymore - not when the black, hulking ships from America and Europe arrived daily with new, scientific ideas and rigid beliefs about what should be done to demons and the old ways.

Kagome still mourned the passing of the Western Lands, and she knew that Sesshoumaru did too, in his own way. He came to her bed far more often these days and grasped her more desperately than he had since Ireland. It was one thing to warn someone of what was to come - it was another to survive it.

Outwardly, however, the miko remained firmly optimistic. "Come on," she said, standing up and holding her hand out to the pregnant woman. "Let's go order something for the guys to eat, so that it's ready when they get back."

"Do you think it will be so soon as that?" asked Rin, glancing up at the sun that was still arcing over the tops of their heads.

Kagome smiled. "I think that Inuyasha will come racing back for food." She paused as her grin turned cat-like. "And to get away from Sesshoumaru."

Rin laughed - a familiar sound that the miko hadn't heard enough of in the past weeks. "And if they don't, I'm sure we'll manage," she said, patting her tummy. "I eat everything in sight these days."

They waved to Kikyo, who was still in the middle of her botany lesson, as they strolled across the field. The children sat in rapt attention around her - the elder miko had a talent for storytelling and instruction. Although Kagome remembered her as stoic and rigid, she realized that Kikyo's ability was innate - she had reasserted herself from the shadow of a woman that she had been upon her resurrection. Time had still taken its toll on her - there was a brittleness in her otherwise unchanged face that belied her sufferings - but Kagome could see the vibrancy of the miko that Inuyasha had first known.

Then again, it was possible that her softer feelings towards her one-time romantic rival stemmed from the cold realization that they were so much more alike than ever.

"It's still difficult to imagine leaving the Western Lands after all this time," murmured Rin, who was drifting into her own reverie.

"You'll have your mate, not to mention Inuyasha and his family," Kagome said. "You'll be taking the important parts of home with you."

"That's true," said her companion, still looking as if she wanted to fall to the ground and hug the earth itself. "I just can't see myself loving any place as much as I love this one."

On a beautiful, peaceful day such as this, Kagome could agree. Their path was taking them to the small, delicate inn on the edge of town - the same sort of place she had stayed a hundred times when Miroku conned their way into a pair of rooms with tales of a dark aura. Inside, she would have a delicious meal, handmade by the wife of the innkeeper and the one servant. Kikyo and the children would come in, and they would reminisce until the men arrived. The players might have changed, but it still warmed Kagome's heart. It was easy to forget how many awful battles and heartbreaking moments she had suffered in Japan - it was still her childhood home.

But just as she was about to voice these thoughts, something dark and angry pierced at her mind. Rin was suddenly shaking her arm. "Kagome-sama? Kagome-sama!"

She sucked in a few, deep breaths, cooling her lungs. "It didn't hurt. It was just a bit startling," said the miko. "I'm fine."

"No, you are _not_," said the younger woman, sounding as insistent as Sesshoumaru. "What's wrong?"

Kagome straightened up, blinking at the inn just up the path. "I'm not sure," she murmured. "It felt like..."

"The shape-shifters?" interrupted Rin, curling a protective arm around her stomach.

"Definitely not," she said. "It felt like a warning from something almost as powerful though. But that's impossible." The last part she murmured, almost to herself, as she began walking again.

"Why? Why is it impossible?" pressed her companion.

Kagome let out a short, humorless laugh. "Because there's nothing that powerful left alive anymore," she said. "And even if there was, I would have sensed it a long time ago. So would Kikyo."

Rin glanced back. "Kikyo-sama is getting up and starting to come this way," she observed.

She looked back at the lake shore and noticed the other miko's firm gait - there was concern in her stride, but not enough to run. The pulse that had so startled her had faded into nothing. "Go and join her," replied Kagome. She sent a reassuring glance towards the younger woman to quell any protest. "I'll be more than fine, unless something happens to you and the baby. Then, Sesshoumaru will be the one to kill me."

Only the protection of her child could have driven the younger woman back. "Be careful," cautioned Rin.

The miko nodded and began to mount the steps when the innkeeper's wife slid open the door. "Oh, Kagome-sama," she said, looking a bit harried. "Your guests are here. I was just about to show them to the front room when I heard your voice."

Kagome looked over the old woman's shoulder to see an unwelcome, but familiar face - even with a concealment spell woven well enough to hide her red hair under the guise of the straight, black locks of a Japanese woman, Kagome would have recognized the glare of Gisela, Countess von Triberg-Todtnau anywhere. She'd been wrong in what she said to Rin. There was someone who was powerful enough to radiate the power she had felt moments ago - she had just _hoped_ it wasn't the countess.

Keeping the calmest expression she could muster, Kagome looked back at the innkeeper's wife. "Thank you," she said with a small bow. "We'll call you if we need anything, but I'd prefer if we weren't disturbed otherwise."

The gray-haired woman gave her a searching look, but conceded readily enough - she had too much work to worry about her slightly odd guests. She disappeared around the back of the inn while Kagome shed her shoes. "Shall we?" she said to Gisela, gesturing to the room that was meant for receiving guests. She spoke in German, just in case anyone had their ears pressed to the walls.

"Is that girl pregnant with a half-demon?" asked the countess, looking over Kagome's head instead of giving any proper greeting.

Kagome glanced behind her to see Rin retreating towards Kikyo. "Yes," she said, bristling a bit. "That's Sesshoumaru's ward."

Gisela's lip curled. "Of course. A human girl," she said, before sweeping past and revealing that two youkai had been hovering in the shadows of the hallway.

The miko had to smile at the other face that she recognized, despite the ever growing feeling that this would be a trying afternoon. "Brandt," she greeted. "It's good to see you. I've been worried about you since Moscow."

The fire demon snorted, looking no less contemptuous in his own heavy disguise. "You think you humans could really hurt me?"

Kagome tried not to let her smile broaden as she followed them into the receiving room. "No, I guess not," she said. "But I did wonder when you didn't show..."

"Where is your _husband_?" interrupted Gisela as soon as the door closed.

The miko now understood what that pulse of power had been. The innkeeper's wife had undoubtedly used that word to describe Sesshoumaru while trying to make them comfortable. It hadn't been a warning - it had been uncontrolled anger slicing through the concealment spell that so effectively cloaked them in anonymity, including from a powerful pair of miko. Even now, in the same room as the three youkai, Kagome could only detect traces of their demonic auras. "Sesshoumaru is returning shortly," she replied. "I don't suppose you'd care to tell _me_ why you've come such a long way?"

"It's none of your concern," said the countess with a sniff, "so no, I don't care to tell you anything."

The petty jealousy was already wearing thing. Not even when Sesshoumaru himself treated her as a servant did Gisela take such a dismissive view of her. She had been almost kind at their last encounter. Fortunately, Kagome decided, she was not required to wait upon the countess this time. "You know, if you'd prefer, I'll leave all of you on your own to wait. I don't see us accomplishing anything here, after all."

"Fine," replied Gisela. She glanced at Brandt and said, "I'm not sure we should even bother waiting, though."

"After this trip?" Brandt asked as Kagome hesitated by the door.

"He's taken a human wife," scoffed the countess. "What should he care what I have to say?"

Kagome sent up a silent prayer for patience before she turned back. "He's not my husband," she conceded. "People just assume that when we travel together. And it makes things easier when we don't correct them."

"I'm sure that's the reason you tell yourselves," Brandt said with a lecherous grin.

Gisela ignored her cousin. "You _reek_ of him," she hissed at the miko.

"I didn't say that I didn't," replied Kagome with a frown. "But I don't see how _that_ is any of your business."

Brandt snorted again, this time with smothered laughter instead of derision. "Not completely, anyway," he said as he glanced to his right - not at the countess, but the quiet girl that stood between them. Kagome finally studied the third fourth occupant of the room. Willowy and pale, she couldn't have been more than twelve in human age, although she was also wearing a concealment spell. But even the powerful disguise could not hide the heart-shaped face, high cheekbones and rounded nose that she shared with the countess.

She could feel her heart begin to beat faster, strumming harshly against her ribs. "This is your daughter?" she murmured.

The countess lifted her chin. "Of course."

Kagome took a step backwards. She didn't want to know, but the question slipped out anyway. "What's her name?"

"Adele." Her eyes narrowed as she swept her hand towards the miko and turned to address the girl. "Adele, this is the human priestess that your father travels with."

The entire world seemed to sway beneath her, challenging the miko to stay on her feet as she lost her breath. She tried to suck the air back into her lungs, but her chest constricted as her palms became slick with sweat. It was a terrifying sensation, as if she was drowning on dry land.

But when she reached back, searching for the door, it was not her panic that moved the walls. Sesshoumaru was suddenly standing behind her, glowing with pure fury. He was breathing rapidly as well - his brow actually glittered with beads of sweat. Kagome froze and stared at him as his concealment spell flickered, revealing flashes of white hair and lengthening claws. His blood red eyes remained fixed on Gisela as he stepped into the room.

No one said anything for a full, eternal minute.

"What," he began in the most dangerous of whispers, "is the meaning of this insult?"

It took a second for even the countess to recover herself from the weight of Sesshoumaru's glare, but she soon drew herself up with an indignant look of her own. "'Insult'?" she echoed. "I would think that you would be pleased to see some of your _equals_ for once, Sesshoumaru."

The taiyoukai did not move - he didn't seem to listen to her at all. "Explain yourself," he ordered. His eyes flickered over to Adele. "Explain _her_."

Brandt made the mistake of believing the danger had passed and let his presence be known by taking steps towards the low table in the center of the room. "Don't you think we should sit down? This is bound to be a long conversation."

Kagome curled into herself as Sesshoumaru's eyes flashed. She now remembered all the snide comments Brandt had made about fathers and children. She hadn't seen it then, but she should have. Brandt's harsh words usually had truth at the core.

"You knew in Moscow," he growled at the fire demon. "You _knew _in Moscow, you said _nothing_, and now, you expect me to listen to some fiction from you?" He bared his teeth. "I expect a full and truthful explanation from the countess and the countess alone. I expect_ you_ to leave immediately."

He stiffened, his hand falling onto the hilt of the katana he wore at his hip. "Hell no."

"I ordered him not to tell you," Gisela spoke up. "Did you really want him to tell you in the middle of a revolution? In the middle of a burning city?"

"So you kept it from me for another half century," Sesshoumaru said, turning on her. "I do not care what your excuses are. If he doesn't want to be strangled to death with his own intestines, I suggest that you send him out of this room."

"What about her?" the countess asked, a spiteful glance thrown at Kagome.

The miko began to backpedal towards the hallway, desperate to get out and to someplace that had air. Her stomach was roiling. But Sesshoumaru's eyes were now fixed on _her_, as if just realizing that she was still standing four feet behind him. "She stays," he ground out, and she stopped with her fingers on the door frame. He had already turned his attention back on the countess and - Kagome had to force herself to think the word - _their _daughter. He spoke with the measured words that Kagome recognized as his attempt to hold onto his temper. "Good fortune for you, considering that she will probably not want me to do any permanent damage to you, despite your treatment of her."

Gisela paled but soon nodded discreetly at Brandt, who withdrew through the door farthest from Sesshoumaru. "What was I supposed to do?" she asked. She had lost her bravado in the face of his rage. "You left us after dropping us off in South America. We didn't know where you'd gone until Moscow. Adele was almost a century old by then. You abandoned us."

"I didn't know I had anything to abandon!" thundered the taiyoukai.

Everything fell silent again. Kagome felt that she was trembling - not from fear of Sesshoumaru, of course, but fear of what she was witnessing. She and the dog demon had received into more than their fair share of bad luck; they had been blessed with a few, shining moments that she would never surrender. But this was unique. It was an heir. As angry as Sesshoumaru was, Kagome knew that he had not missed the very important fact that this young girl that was still shrouded in the disguise of a human was, in fact, one of the youngest, pure demons in the world. New blood and powerful, if her parents were any indication. Such a thing could not be ignored.

What a cosmic joke, she reflected, to give Sesshoumaru an heir on the same day that he had lost his kingdom.

When he spoke again, it was almost his normal tone. "How did you find us?"

"I heard about what you were dismantling the Western Lands," Gisela said.

Kagome held her breath as Sesshoumaru frowned. "And so, you decided to reveal this to me at a moment you thought me weak?" he challenged quietly. "I assure you that that is not the case."

"I am aware of that," the countess said. "You are still worthy of the title you have."

The dog demon didn't appear mollified by the bit of half-hearted flattery. "Then, why now?"

"As much as I would like to deny it, the Order has the power. It is always possible that something might happen to me," said the countess, her eyes glittering. "I do not want my child to be one orphan among the many your brother has charge of."

Sesshoumaru narrowed his eyes. "That is not the entire reason," he said.

Gisela drew herself up. "I would not..."

"I asked."

Everyone looked at Adele. It was the first time the girl had spoken since Kagome had arrived, and although Adele didn't seem to possess the same, unending confidence that her parents had, her voice was strong. Kagome could feel the anger and curiosity warring with Sesshoumaru without even looking at him. She wondered what Adele thought of Sesshoumaru in turn - she had grown up with Brandt at her ear, after all. The countess probably had few kind words to say, for that matter.

Sesshoumaru took a few steps towards his daughter. "And what do you expect?"

"I just wanted to know who you were," Adele said, her voice softening slightly. "And, maybe, you want to know something about me?"

The taiyoukai sent a swift glare towards Gisela. "Undoubtedly."

"Don't punish _our_ daughter for my decisions," returned the countess. "We can discuss more of your disappointment in my handling of this matter later. Is it so difficult to do what she asks?"

Sesshoumaru sniffed. "No." He looked at the girl. "You may ask your questions, and you will answer mine."

He was giving in easily, Kagome thought as she watched the three youkai - the family, no matter what the circumstances - stand together at the other end of the room. Sensation was beginning to return to her limbs, and she was again gripped by the need to escape this room with the walls that continued to close in around her.

"May I drop my concealment spell, Mother?" Adele was asking. She glanced at Kagome. "Even though there's a human here," she added in a whisper.

Gisela took a breath. "I suppose so," she replied.

"Actually," Kagome jumped in shakily, "I am going to be leaving. I think that would be, well, wise. So I'll just go." She edged towards the door.

"It is not necessary," Sesshoumaru said, studying her for the first time since coming inside.

The anger had fallen away from his expression just enough for her to see that he _wanted _her to stay. Even to the great demon lord, facing a previously unknown, adolescent daughter seemed to be a battle not faced alone. But she couldn't. Her throat was closing again. "I... I'll be outside," she murmured.

She turned to the door, her hands slipping on the wooden frame. Sesshoumaru's long fingers darted in front of her and slid it open. "Just outside," he said, his voice close to her ear.

She wished he had stayed on the other side of the room. "You'd know if I went any further," Kagome pointed out, unable to meet his eyes again. She would stay if she did, even if it destroyed her.

Before he could say anything else, the miko stepped through the hallway and out onto the porch, closing that door behind her as gently as she could. Inuyasha was standing closest, his shoulders tense and his hands curled into fists. "Kagome?" he asked. The lines around his eyes - the most obvious sign of his approaching middle age - deepened as he frowned at her. "Are you alright?"

"No," she replied flatly, moving across the porch and down the steps. She paused in front of Kikyo - the only one that could truly understand - as she stood in the midst of the orphaned children that she raised with Inuyasha. "I need to think on my own for a bit," she said to the elder miko.

"Of course," murmured Kikyo.

Kagome continued walking, past an anxious Rin and her grave mate, Suoh, and down towards the lake again. She continued beyond the tree under which she and Rin had sat just a short time ago. Only when her calves began to burn and the sky began to darken did she stop, dropping down on the cool, rough grass. She could only see pinpricks of light from the village from her place on the sloping base of the mountain range that separated the town from the sea. Just as it had been that afternoon, it was lovely.

And that was where she wept.

* * *

The stars were out when she felt the ground tremble with approaching footsteps. "Kagome?"

She opened her eyes, wishing that she could wash the dried, salty drops off of her skin. "Hi, Inuyasha," she said, sitting up and rubbing at her cheeks. "I wasn't asleep."

"Yeah, you were," he muttered as he tucked his hands into his sleeves. He didn't wear the fire rat robe anymore, but a muted blue of the same design. The fire rat, he had told her before, was tucked away somewhere safe. She missed it, just as she missed the white, soft ears that were hidden beneath yet another concealment spell. Everything she remembered had faded away, just when she wanted to wrap herself in nostalgia and forget this entire day.

"Not well enough to mind that you interrupted, then," she said. "Did Kikyo send you to make sure I wasn't doing something stupid?"

"No." He frowned. "_I_ was worried about you, so I came looking."

Kagome gave him a faint smile. He had changed so much since they had traveled Japan looking for Jewel shards - the old Inuyasha would never have admitted that he was the one that was concerned. She would have said so, but then noticed another figure lingering in the low light. "Brandt? Is that you skulking in the shadows again?" she asked, before looking back at Inuyasha. "What is _he_ doing here?"

The hanyou rolled his eyes. "Hell if I know. He followed me."

"Gisela sent me to spy on you," said Brandt in a bored tone as he came closer.

Kagome sent the deadliest glare she could manage with tear tracks still staining her face. "Then, shouldn't you be somewhere else? Out of sight, at least? I'm not going to give you anything really good to take back with you when you're three feet in front of me."

The fire demon snorted. "If _the countess_ wants to go around eavesdropping on your weepy conversations about the Sesshoumaru, she can climb around on the mountainside in the dark herself. I'm not going to do it." He sat down in front of her and leaned back on his elbows to turn his face up to the night sky.

Inuyasha and Kagome exchanged a look. "Why does Gisela want you to spy on me?" asked the miko. "There can't be much she doesn't already know."

"She's probably hoping that you're secretly planning the mass murder of every remaining demon in Japan," said Brandt. "She wasn't that fond of you before..."

"I figured that part out myself," muttered Kagome.

"Now, she's gone off the deep end," continued the fire demon. "I'm not going to be the instrument of her idiotic jealousy just because she thinks that she gave birth to the savior of demon kind with the guy you happen to be screwing. I might not like you either, but I know you're not plotting our destruction. And Sesshoumaru probably isn't going to be willing to make any extra, baby saviors."

"Good to hear," said the miko flatly.

"Far as I see it," Brandt said, "you've both lost out on this one."

Inuyasha growled. "And how do you figure that?"

Brandt rolled onto his side and fixed them both with a serious stare. "I think we all know that my cousin is going to have a hard time working her way back into Sesshoumaru's good graces. It'll be near impossible to get back into his bed, especially with this one around." He turned his attention entirely to Kagome. "And the little miko knows that the only reason the dog demon _does_ come to her bed is because she can't give him any brats with diluted blood."

The hanyou got to his feet. "Take that back, you asshole!" he snarled.

Kagome gripped the fabric of his pants in her hand, despite the lump that had risen in her throat at Brandt's declaration. "Inuyasha," she said, "it's fine."

"No, it isn't!"

She gave a small, sad laugh. "It's not like you're crazy about the idea of me sleeping with Sesshoumaru either. You don't have to defend it." She shrugged. "Besides, he's right. You know that your brother would never sleep with a human that could actually give him a child."

The hanyou crouched beside her, ignoring Brandt for the moment. "I'm not going to let him mock you for this," he said fiercely.

"I'm used to him being a jerk," she said. "That's just him. Believe me - fighting it is pointless."

"Very true," Brandt said, grinning at them. "But could you be so unaffected as that, miko? You might be more like a demon than I thought. You don't seem to care that Adele exists at all."

Kagome set her expression in stone - Brandt _would_ tell Gisela all that he had seen and heard here. She didn't have any doubts about that. "I care. But if you were expecting me to be angry about Sesshoumaru sleeping with Gisela, you're a bit late. I suspected that since the first time I met her. What I didn't expect was anything - _anyone_ - to come of it."

"Ah. Because you're barren, you assumed Sesshoumaru wasn't exactly _functioning_ in that area either? That would be quite the shock."

It wasn't, really - not when she thought on it. She had always assumed that the source of her infertility could be explained by the curse of her immortality - if her body refused to age, to scar or to grow ill, it was no surprise that it would refuse the hardship of a pregnancy. Sesshoumaru's contribution didn't require anything quite so long-term. She just wished he'd been a bit more prudent.

Inuyasha took her silence as a sign of shock. "Could you be any more disgusting?" he spat.

"I could try," Brandt said with a leer in the miko's direction.

Anger welled up within her. And although she knew that she should remain silent, Kagome countered, "At least I'm more than an errand boy lusting after scraps of affection."

Brandt went still, as if an arrow had buried itself into his ribs. And then, he was chuckling.

"What the hell is so funny?" Inuyasha demanded.

"It just occurred to me," Brandt said, still smiling despite the vindictive gleam in his eye. "A miko that has almost everything - wealth, immortality, a pretty boy in the sack, friends that foolishly jump to her defense - is complaining about the one thing she can't have. She doesn't have a little brat that would probably only die at the hands of the Order or one of those shape-shifters, and it might as well be the end of the world. Selfish, don't you think? I wonder if that soul is so pure these days."

Inuyasha looked ready to tear the fire demon limb from limb, but Kagome stood and put a hand on his shoulder. "You can't possibly understand," she said to Brandt.

"I understand," said the youkai, turning icy. "You think that just because you and the half-breed's undead miko can't squeeze out the kiddies that you have some sort of monopoly on suffering?"

Kagome's grip tightened as Inuyasha turned a furious shade of red. "How did you," he began.

"Please," interrupted Brandt. "All those little orphans down there, but not a single mongrel that shares your blood? It wasn't so hard to figure out why you're coddling the little miko there."

"Don't antagonize him, Brandt," Kagome said with a frown. She could feel the hanyou trembling from rage beneath her touch. "I don't want to fight."

The fire demon scoffed and got to his feet. "Yeah, well, I've heard all that I could stand from you two anyway," he shot back. "You could have given me some tears or something. You've gotten as boring as any other worthless human, Kagome."

They watched Brandt stalk away as Inuyasha's breathing eventually evened out. "How can you stand that guy?" he growled softly. "If you weren't here to stop me, I would have taken his head off."

"Like I said, that's just the way he is." She peered after Brandt, although the fire demon had already disappeared into the dark. "I shouldn't have said that about him being an errand boy. I deeply hurt his feelings."

"He doesn't have feelings!" protested Inuyasha.

"Of _course_ he does," the miko replied. "I was cruel, and he lashed out. You and I can't have children, but imagine having to help raise the child of the union between a man you hate and the woman you love."

The hanyou paused. "He's in love with the countess?"

"I've always suspected it. I mean, he's not exactly personable, but Brandt has always seemed to hold a special sort of resentment for Sesshoumaru." She shook her head, suppressing a hysterical, little laugh. "I think he envies us."

"Well, he shouldn't," huffed Inuyasha.

"Another person's life can always look better than yours from afar," Kagome said. "And he's right. We do have a lot that people would kill for."

"So, you're agreeing with him?"

Kagome shook her head. "Of course not. He has no right to judge us on what _he _thinks should make us happy. He shouldn't have dragged you and Kikyo into it at all," she said. "Giving him a taste of his own medicine is exactly what he wanted though. Insulting and fighting people is the way he copes with things."

Inuyasha huffed softly. "You were still a lot calmer than I was," he said.

"Actually, I feel like my insides have been ripped out of my body," Kagome replied. She closed her eyes for a moment, mentally touching the chasm her heart had left behind. "It's not calm. It's just like pain has eaten away at everything else instead."

For a moment, it looked like the hanyou would pull her into a hug, but something pulled his attention to the dark slope instead. "Can you handle talking to him like that?" he asked after a moment. "The bastard is on his way up here. I'll stay, if you want me to."

She gave him a small smile, despite the way her breath caught. "Thanks, Inuyasha, but I'm good."

"I doubt that."

Kagome bit her lip as the faint outline of Sesshoumaru appeared in the distance. "Well, I think it's best if this is a conversation that would go better in private."

The hanyou made a soft sound of disagreement, but said, "Fine. I'm going to make it _perfectly_ clear what'll happen to him if he does anything stupid though."

"Inuyasha," Kagome protested, reaching out to grab him again. But the half-demon had slipped away, down the hillside, to meet his elder sibling. Sesshoumaru's concealment spell had been put back into place, and she could see the light shining off of the brothers' hair as they spoke, but any words or expressions were lost to her human senses. She had to take heart in the fact that there were no glowing clouds of poison or flashing of coal-red eyes. And when the conversation ended after about two minutes, Inuyasha seemed to walk away under his own power.

And suddenly, the taiyoukai was in front of her, staring down at her.

"Hi," she managed.

"You were not 'just outside', as you promised," he said.

Kagome shrugged - she certainly wasn't planning on apologizing for that. "Were you talking to Adele and Gisela for all this time?" she asked instead.

"To Adele, yes," Sesshoumaru replied. "I requested that the countess leave soon after you excused yourself."

She knew he was baiting her - he wanted her to ask why he had done such a thing. But again, she refused him. "What is your daughter like?" Her voice hardly hitched on the dreaded word.

The corners of the taiyoukai's mouth turned down, but he answered, "She is soft-spoken and intelligent, but her education is uneven. She is not sufficiently fluent in Japanese, and her fighting abilities are almost nonexistent." He looked away, taking a moment to clear the anger from his tone. "As it might be expected, she harbors some of the prejudices of the countess and her cousin."

"You mean, she hates humans," Kagome said.

"Her distrust and fear is an obstacle instead of an asset for a world that has far more humans than youkai," Sesshoumaru said. "You are aware that such biases are correctable."

Their eyes met, and the miko wondered if she _did_ know that. "Does she look like you?" she asked.

The dog demon didn't reply for so long that she thought he might forget the question. Finally, he said, "She could be the copy of any full-blooded member of my family. She bears the crescent mark I inherited from my mother."

"A true heir," Kagome murmured. "You must be pleased."

"Her potential intrigues me," he said, "but she is a stranger and not my heir. There is nothing to inherit."

The miko gave a weary sigh. "I don't think that's what she's really interested in, Sesshoumaru. She wants a father in her life. Most little girls do." She glanced up at him. "Is she staying for awhile so that you can talk more?"

Sesshoumaru arched an eyebrow. "You believe that I should further my relationship with her?" he asked.

"I know that I would give anything to talk to my father again. To get to know him better," Kagome said softly. "And you can't cast off the responsibilities you have towards her. She's your daughter, even if you didn't know about her until today."

"I am aware of that," he said with a touch of acid. "I will do what is required to protect her, and I will not deny her anything that is within my power to give. But I took no part in her upbringing. While she is physically my copy, she possesses little that marks her as mine. Brandt has acted as her father, and despite her curiosity in her familial history, I do not believe that she is looking for any sort of replacement in that respect."

"So, you aren't going to take the countess as your mate?" she asked, wondering if Brandt had been right.

He scoffed. "She has proven her unworthiness, although I am sure that she hoped for a different decision." He paused and met Kagome's gaze. "I decided some time ago that there is no point to a political union when we have few politics to unite any longer. It is a strange coincidence that I seemed to have come to that conclusion just after she became pregnant."

"Tortuga," guessed Kagome.

"No," he said, surprising her. "Before that. She must have been already carrying the child when we met you, because I did not sleep with her after that." He shifted his eyes away from hers.

"You didn't have to tell me that," she murmured. "It's really none of my business."

"But you wished to know," he answered. "It matters to you."

She couldn't deny him this. "Yes," she said. "It matters, even if it shouldn't."

"Why should it not?"

"Well, we're just having some fun, aren't we?" She cursed the way her voice cracked. "I mean, this is just what tends to happen in situations like ours."

Sesshoumaru studied her. "There are no other situations like ours," he observed.

She ducked her head. They _never_ spoke of the unique circumstances of their relationship - now, it was more embarrassing to mention it with him than anyone else. "True. But our... our _arrangement_ doesn't give me the right to put demands on you. I couldn't have said anything if you did want to return to her. She has your daughter. I don't. And I never will."

"Is that what upsets you so greatly?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "I never wanted her to give me a child. I never wanted one at all."

The heart she had sworn had been scooped out of her chest returned with a crippling twist of pain. "Precisely," Kagome said, her eyes filling with tears again. "And I was perfect for that. But I didn't mind. As long as it was just us, I didn't mind that I couldn't have a baby. But now, you have Adele, and no matter what you say, she _is_ your daughter."

"You are jealous of the _girl_?" he asked with a frown.

"No. Maybe." She turned away and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. "I was fine when you were just sleeping with the countess. But in what way is this fair, Sesshoumaru? You don't even want children, and yet, you get one? _She_ gives you this perfect, pure-blooded demon that you are always beholden to?"

Kagome stopped to take a breath as Sesshoumaru stood silently with his face in shadow. "But I guess that I'm being selfish," she murmured, "when I should be happy for you."

"Your moments of selfishness are rare," said the dog demon. "I cannot fault you for it."

She let out a little laugh that sounded more like a sob. "I didn't even ask if you think Adele inherited your immortality."

"No. She is pure-blooded, and she will age and die as any pure-blooded demon does," he replied. "But I do not see why that should matter at the moment."

"Because she'll die someday, and you probably won't." Kagome sighed, knowing that the thought had occurred to him the moment he had seen Adele. "Your daughter will die before you, and I'm consumed by jealousy anyway. Brandt was right about me."

"Whatever he said, he was incorrect," said the dog demon, his lip lifting in a sneer.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," she murmured, lifting her hands to her face. A headache was blooming at a point above her left eyebrow.

Sesshoumaru seemed to have attained that rare realization that a man should not ask a plainly troubled woman if she was alright, but she almost wished that he would anyway. She desperately wanted to yell at him - to expel some of the twist of emotions that was coiled within her mind. If she were honest with herself, she didn't know exactly what she was feeling. She did, however, want _not_ to feel it anymore. She was starting to grow nauseous.

"You should come back to the inn for some rest," Sesshoumaru said at last.

She rubbed at the second set of tear stains on her cheeks. "I look that bad?"

"No, but your mood often improves after a warm bath and some sleep," he said, turning to walk down the hill.

Kagome followed, deciding that she couldn't yell at him now - not while he behaving and suggesting such glorious things as baths. She supposed that he didn't deserve it anyway. "How long is the countess staying?" she asked.

"A few days," Sesshoumaru replied, "although our conversations will be kept to a minimum. I agreed to give Adele the information she seeks for now. Anything more, and we will discuss it."

"'We'?"

"You and I," he clarified, glancing down at her. "I did not know about her. I would not have concealed her presence."

Kagome felt a tendril of hope curl within her. "I know. She is your daughter though. You'll want to see her, and that's fine. We'll adjust."

"I will not make these decisions unilaterally when it impacts you as well," Sesshoumaru said.

"You're being awfully nice. I really _must_ look that bad," she said.

The taiyoukai frowned. "When you were married to the human in Calais, I asked him why you had no children."

Kagome took a moment to register the rapid subject change. "What did Bastien say?"

"He said that it was the only source of pain you had in your lives," Sesshoumaru murmured. "He asked me to never mention your inability to have children, because it pained you. I agreed, and I upheld that promise, because I could see that he was correct. But I made an error when we began our own arrangement. I did not make it clear that your infertility was not a matter of any importance."

The strumming pain returned to her heart. "I know," she began.

"You misunderstand," he interrupted. "I would not have cared either way. If you were capable of having children, it would not have altered my actions."

She gaped for only a moment before reaching for him and wrapping her arms around his waist. She should be kissing him, she knew, for such an admission, but her eyes were wet yet again. Kagome could only bury her head against his chest until the tears ebbed. "How did you know just what I needed to hear?" she said, her voice muffled by his clothing.

His claws touched the back of her neck and slid up into her hair. "Simple observation," he said. "You are far too emotional over something that never came to be."

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase, 'it's the thought that counts'?" she asked.

"Not until this moment," he said.

Kagome pulled back and brushed her fingers over the small stain she'd left on his black kimono. "Well, thank you for always thinking of me," she murmured, knowing that the sentiment fell entirely short of what she wanted to say. The weariness in his eyes stopped her though - there were still long, frustrating days ahead, and she refused to complicate it for him. Her own chest still held its throbbing pain. It would be some time before he settled into bed with her again - it would be some time before she wanted him to. He had new wounds. She had old ones that had to heal over once more.

Her hand slipped down to take his. "Come on. Let's get back before dawn."

* * *

A/N: Kudos to those people who saw this coming! To everyone else - sorry for the heart attack. :P I really hope the muse will continue to cooperate so that I can get the next chapter to you guys in some sort of timely fashion. It's going to be a *fun* one. Hehe.

Some historical notes:

As Kagome and Rin talked about, the Tokugawa Shogunate was teetering on the edge of collapse in 1867. The Shogun had had all the power in previous years, because he controlled the military. However, the Black Ships (i.e. the military) from America and Europe had started to come to the shores in droves - they began threatening the government if they didn't give in to their trade demands, and the shogunate lost face as they alternately tried to appease and fight the foreigners. The infighting between pro and anti western contingents and different sections of the elite classes about how to deal with the changing circumstances weakened the shogunate's political power. But they really lost their clout when the foreign trade led to a wildly unstable economy, giving rise to inflation, unemployment and the eventual breakdown of the currency - not to mention all the deaths from disease that the Westerners brought over. A number of riots eventually led to a civil war, in which the pro-shogunate forces were defeated, paving the way for Emperor Meiji to abolish the feudal system and take sole power.

Thanks to Ijin for looking over this for me - I probably didn't take enough of her suggestions, but I was just so ready to get this off my computer screen! LoL.


	17. 1888: London

A/N: Heh. Yeah, it's totally been more than a year since I updated this. All I can say is that real life interrupted in a major - but mostly good - way. I'm hoping that interruption is over, but I'm not entirely sure. Here's what I *can* promise - I will always update. Always, always, always. Even if it takes me 13 months. I know I sound like a broken record in that respect, but I will try my best! Love and unicorns and chocolate chip cookies to everyone that's still reading this!

As a WARNING - this chapter contains a bit of gory imagery. People die in very not pretty ways. More historical notes are in the footnote.

In the meantime, I have more fanart by lovely, lovely artists! You guys totally spoil me! Thank you!

Storytellersdaughter did another gorgeous portrait of Kagome, this time from the chapter set in the French Revolution - storytellersdaughter . deviantart . com / art / 1794-Kagome-187831028

Deklayn drew a wonderful rendition of the half-demon Kagome from The Broken Miko - deklayn . deviantart . com / art / the-broken-miko-187965377  
And a sexy portrait of Kagome with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru - deklayn . deviantart . com / # / d341os9

D4rkD4wn beautifully illustrated our intrepid pair from this story from the end of the Ireland chapter - d4rkd4wn . deviantart . com / # / d3663sd

GokuLuver did some lovely lineart of Sesshoumaru and Kagome snuggling in the cave from The Once and Future Taiyoukai - gokuluver . deviantart . com / # / d3cj1gj

Panneler-san drew an adorable sketch of Sesshoumaru's most emotional moment from The Once and Future Taiyoukai - panneler-san . deviantart . com / # / d3cm41q

Serania did a gorgeous portrait of Sesshoumaru and Kagome, eyes locked, from The Once and Future Taiyoukai - serania. deviantart. com/ gallery/#/ d419b2d

Ailenema did a beautiful watercolor of the hot spring scene in The Once and Future Taiyoukai - ailenemea . deviantart . com / gallery / # / d4e4xow

This story placed first in the category of Best Romance - Other in the Feudal Association's December awards. *And* it placed first in Best Action/Adventure and second in Best Drama over at Dokuga! My one-shot "A Midwinter Romance" also got third place for Best Sesshoumaru Portrayal! *And* this story got Best Romance: Other for 2010 with the IYFG! Woohoo!

Thank you so much to everyone that voted and/or nominated me on any of those sites! :D And special thanks to Ijin, who didn't scoff at me for taking so long and made sure this was fit for posting!

**Beside You in Time**

**1888: London, England**

Ghosts roamed the streets when the fogs rolled into London. Men, women and children grew quiet and moved slowly, because they couldn't see more than half a block in front of them, and half of the things they did see weren't actually there. After decades of walking through the pea soup, it was still difficult to overcome the natural, human fear of dark corners and shadowy figures. Even the light from the street lamps along the wide street of Piccadilly fractured in the haze.

Kagome had prowled in the dark for far too long to fear the shadows - the few things that _could_ hunt her didn't bother to hide. Instead, the fog provided anonymity, protecting her from stares that followed her whenever she left the East. If not for the acrid smell and the yellow film that clung to every surface, including the lungs of every Londoner, she could have appreciated this ethereal world created by the burning of soft coal. At the moment, she wished she could walk in the fog rather than stand here in her stiff dress and restrictive corset, waiting for an assignment she already resented.

Sesshoumaru called her name, and she turned away from the window to see him rise to his feet. "They are approaching," he explained.

She glanced at the door. "Are you _certain_ that I should be here?" she asked.

"They asked for assistance," the taiyoukai said. "They are more than fortunate in the form in which it has come to them, and if they do not appreciate it, we will leave them to sort out their problem on their own."

"I would say that you're being wonderful in defending my honor, but we both know why you _really_ agreed to come to London. It wasn't for these men."

He shrugged. "We should all have our purposes served."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kagome murmured, just before the door opened.

Three gentlemen in formal wear came into the wood-paneled study, their expressions brightening when they spotted Sesshoumaru. The largest of the men looked as if he was going to split the seams of his jacket with his broad shoulders and barrel chest, but he moved across the room with a feline stealth to grasp Sesshoumaru's hand. "Lord Spenser," he greeted before sending a small bow towards Kagome. "And Lady Spenser. I am Louis Roberts, president of this club. And these are my associates, George Herbert and Edward Compton."

"A pleasure, my lord," said Compton, reaching out with his long, spidery fingers to greet the taiyoukai.

Herbert, the shortest of the three, stopped fidgeting long enough to welcome Sesshoumaru last. "We were so worried that no one would come. Thank you so much for your help."

"It still remains to be seen whether we are able to do anything," the dog demon said, his eyes flickering towards her.

"Yes, I was going to inquire about that," Roberts said with a smile. "The countess said that she would be sending her best available team."

"The countess said that?" Kagome said. "The Countess von Triberg-Todtnau?"

"We are the best _available_," Sesshoumaru cut in quickly, meeting her eyes and wordlessly reminding her that it was true. There were no other 'teams' with the Alliance anymore. Gisela had always had a gift for omitting the important details from the truth. "My wife and I are quite capable. She is a better shot than I am."

Compton arched a thin eyebrow while Herbert gaped. Roberts alone kept a straight face as he approached her. "Forgive our surprise, Lady Spenser. We didn't realize that you would be joining your husband in the investigation. Of course, we are glad that you are doing do and even gladder that you seem able to defend yourself. You must understand that our concern would be the same for any lady, as it is a nasty business that we have in front of us."

"There are matters which benefit from - even require - a woman's touch," Kagome replied with a controlled edge to her voice. "Believe me when I say that my sex does not diminish my ability. Or is it my humanity that concerns you?"

"Human?" Herbert asked. "You are _human_?"

"Oh really, George," drawled Compton. "You must pay attention."

The little man flushed red. "You know that I can't sense these things as well as you," he muttered.

"Of course it isn't a problem, Lady Spenser," Roberts interjected smoothly. "As the officers of a gentlemen's club, I can assure you that we know precisely what strength women hold. Why do you think that we have to run to a place free of the fairer sex? We have to pretend that we have some semblance of control in our lives, after all."

"But this is different. This is _dangerous_," protested Herbert. "We shouldn't ask a lady to put herself at risk for... well, we aren't even full-blooded demons."

"The Alliance protects its own. Your precise heritage is irrelevant," said Sesshoumaru, catching Kagome's eye for a brief moment. The three men visibly relaxed before he spoke again. "However, I believe you should start telling us exactly _what_ poses these risks."

Roberts walked over to the mahogany desk that sat below a large portrait of Queen Victoria dressed in her ubiquitous widow's weeds. "I should warn you," he said, unlocking a drawer, "that what we have is mostly speculation, aside from the things that you could have read in the papers."

"Not that those rags have anything useful," Compton said. "If they do, it's by pure accident."

"True," agreed Roberts, spreading a stack of papers out across the desktop. "However, they may provide you with a starting point."

Kagome and Sesshoumaru drew close and began to sift through everything that had been gathered. The headlines were alarming - two women had been slaughtered in the squalid district of Whitechapel. Something sparked deep within her most blurry memories, but she couldn't drag it to the forefront. Sesshoumaru saw it and gave her a questioning look, but she waved it away in the face of the most horrifying fact before her. "These women were _brutalized_, and they don't have any suspects?"

"None but this 'Leather Apron', as they call him," said Roberts, sliding another front page over to her. "A shoemaker and a Jew. I think the second condemns him in the eyes of many, but that is fear and prejudice, not justice."

She skimmed the article and shook her head. "Well, if this is any indication of how well Scotland Yard's investigation is going, they'll never find the murderer." Bloody details of the attacks ran rampant through the papers, although they seemed to conflict from one publication to the next. Some of them didn't bother to pretend at reporting the truth - the _Illustrated Police News_ included gruesome black and white drawings that filled pages with little text, portraying a violent story the artist seemed to conjure from thin air.

"It is pitiful," muttered Herbert, clasping his hands together as he bent over the desk to study a report on the second victim's ordeal.

Sesshoumaru straightened up, frowning. "Pitiful or not, Whitechapel has always been home to debauchery and violence - the parts of life humans pretend to ignore until they wish to indulge in them. There must be a murder every night. Aside from the excessive gore of these murders that attracts the press, what interest is it of three gentlemen from Mayfair? You live in a world apart from these women."

Roberts gave him a grim smile in return. "You are being charitable, my lord. We both know that they were prostitutes," he said. "Because of that, I agree that had these women been anything less than ripped apart, they would have passed without notice to London. But not to us. They have demonic heritage and deserve the vengeance of the Alliance, just as much as any of us would."

The miko grabbed a paper with the first victim's mortuary photograph - as pale and grainy as the picture was, Kagome could see that Mary Ann Nichols lacked the elfin ears and otherworldly features of youkai. "But their concealment spells would have faded away as soon as they died," she said. "She looks human."

"They have only drops of demon blood," admitted Roberts, "but isn't that enough, my lady? Was it not just said that the Alliance protects its own, regardless of heritage? These women need our protection more than we in this room require, because they _are_ almost human with all the accompanying frailties. They only know that they have this unique ancestry, but have little to show for it in any sort of demonic ability."

"But they still have to hide," Kagome said with a sigh. "One drop is all it takes for the Order to consider someone as tainted."

"Not even that much," muttered Sesshoumaru, glancing up at her. "However, it is unlikely that this is the work of the Order."

"I would have doubted it as well, my lord. Murder is, as you say, common enough, and it could have been an unfortunate coincidence. However, these crimes are just the latest and most severe attacks upon the part-demon women of Whitechapel," said Compton, brushing his fingertips over the papers.

Sesshoumaru frowned. "That is not the reason for my doubt."

"Then, what?" Herbert asked, his eyes widening.

The taiyoukai ignored him in favor of his own question. "Who is the most powerful demon permanently residing in London?"

Roberts shifted his weight back onto his heels. "I am, if you are speaking of blood alone. I am half wolf demon. Compton and Herbert are each one-fourth, deer and rat respectively."

"No one else?" Kagome asked. "Not a single, full-blooded demon in the city?"

"It is dangerous, my lady," answered Roberts with a shrug. "Or it was and is again. For a time, we were left in relative peace. There weren't enough of us left for the Order to pay serious attention. I thought we had drawn their eyes once more, but your husband seems to disagree."

"If it was the Order," said Sesshoumaru, "they would not be attacking prostitutes who are so close to human. They would kill the head first and allow the body to perish second. Without you to protect the weaker ones, the Order would easily achieve victory. Instead, the culprit has announced his presence to you and destroyed any advantage of surprise."

"Not to mention that this murderer has attracted the attention of the entire city," added Kagome. "It's not really the way the Order has done things in the past. As a rule, secret societies try to remain secret."

Roberts hesitated for a moment. "So you believe that this is all the work of some common criminal?" he asked.

"Not so common. He is still attacking our kind, and he must be dealt with," said Sesshoumaru. "We will figure out what he knows, if he has told anyone, and then, we will silence him."

"I still believe that we should assist you." Compton's eyes lingered on Kagome for a second too long, revealing his doubt. "Especially with this sort of information. We can deal with a killer easily enough."

"You could have dealt with an assassin of the Order as well," she said, drawing herself up as tall as she could. "You called us not because you are incapable, but because your positions in this city require discretion. Above everything else, the three of you must still look and act human."

"Some of our methods occasionally attract attention, so you will not be involved," added Sesshoumaru. He checked his pocket watch and stepped away from the desk. "We will keep you up to date on our progress."

"And you will tell us if you need anything, I hope?" asked Roberts.

Kagome gathered her gloves and handbag. "Of course. We're at Twenty-Two A, Baker Street, if you hear anything that could be of use to us. Aside from an extremely perceptive and curious neighbor across the hall, it's secure."

"Of course."

The five of them made their way out of the study and down to the first floor of the club, through the clouds of cigar smoke that seemed to hover in the air long after the smokers were called to dinner. Kagome let her hand linger on the mahogany banister of the grand staircase as she listened to the sounds of china and crystal clinking and laughter in some distant room. It had been a long time since she had been a part of a luxurious dinner party.

"You are welcome to come for an evening meal, if you can," Roberts offered. "Occasionally, our members are permitted to bring their wives or other female companions. Perhaps this Friday?"

"That's very kind of you..."

"We should not meet socially, if at all possible," cut in Sesshoumaru. "No one should be able to connect us after tonight. This was merely an interview for future membership."

The hanyou nodded. "Of course. Well, I suppose it is my duty to inform you that we are not seeking new members at this time," he said, giving a small smile at the joke. "But we will keep your interest in mind and will contact you if necessary."

"That will be satisfactory," the taiyoukai answered.

After a round of final farewells, they stepped out and onto the sidewalk as Kagome wrapped her arm around Sesshoumaru's. In a few seconds, the club had faded into the fog behind them, and they were cocooned from the dark shapes moving along Piccadilly. Across the street, people were already using lanterns to navigate the paths of Green Park, turning the green lawns into a fairy land. The sound of carriages on the flagstone and whispered conversations echoed in the fog, disorienting her sense of where the noises had originated.

"You are too silent. You believe I was rude?"

She glanced up at him. "No more than usual, but you did lie. We both know that the Order is up to something here. The shape-shifter is in the city, after all."

He shrugged. "The two are not inextricably linked."

"So, it's just an incredible coincidence that the shape-shifter who was running the Order is now in London, just as those with demon blood are being killed off?" She scoffed and shook her head. "No one is that stupid. And what _really_ worries me is that when we can sense him, he can sense us. If he discovers Roberts and the other two and our connection to them..."

"I did not want to alarm them unnecessarily or inspire them to take more direct action," interrupted Sesshoumaru. "The shape-shifter has not expressed any interest in them, although he could certainly find them easily."

"How do you know that?"

"He is finding those with the barest traces of youkai blood. Whatever method he is using would search those three out, if he wished," said the taiyoukai. He frowned down at her. "As we told them, _we_ will figure out the purpose of these killings, and we will stop them. We are the only ones capable of it. Which you are aware of, or you would not have supported me in my lie."

Kagome sighed. "That doesn't mean that I can't feel bad about it. You're putting a lot on guesswork there. People need to know what they're facing, so that they're prepared to protect themselves."

"They cannot protect themselves from the shape-shifters," he said. "We must do that for them, which is our purpose here."

"I know."

"We will tell them if the Order has reemerged," Sesshoumaru added. "Is that satisfactory?"

She shook her head. "Not really, but I suppose it's as much as we can do. As long as that really _is_ our purpose here."

"You believe that we are being duplicitous in some way?"

"We _are_ serving two masters. Roberts asked for our help, but it was the _countess_ that sent us here. She ordered us to London like we were servants, and you gave in to her demands. I hate that she uses your visits with Adele as an excuse to send you on her errands."

"As you pointed out, the shape-shifter is here. We would have come anyway. The _perception_ of giving in to Gisela's commands often saves the both of us many headaches," he said, and then he lifted his chin and gave her that searching look that she hated so much. "You know all of this, so where is the second master we serve?"

"Does Gisela really just want us to stop this murderer? Of all the assignments to send us on, it seems like a strange choice. Those women are barely anything but human. No matter what you said in there to those men, I don't think the countess really cares about _everyone_ that could be under the Alliance's protection." She paused and glanced away. "And you two had a private chat or two when we were in Germany."

"Have I not made myself clear regarding her?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"You have, but I'm a bit less convinced regarding her feelings for you."

He tucked his elbow closer to his body, pulling her towards him a few extra inches as well. "We spoke of Adele's upbringing only, as per the rules I set out for our conversations," he said. "As for her motivations regarding this assignment, I sensed that she has not been in contact with London's youkai for some time. She desires a full report on the state of affairs here. Her movements have become restricted since having Adele."

"She wants you to spy on your own kind," Kagome said.

"Not everything she does has a nefarious intent. The countess likes to know all that she can."

"Because she's controlling and wants that remaining shred of credibility as the Alliance's leader?"

Sesshoumaru's lip twitched upward. "Perhaps."

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," Kagome said, trying to smother the wistful note in her voice. She wished that the old saw could be proven false just once. Adele had been an unexpected surprised, of course, but everything else had remained stubbornly in place. Sesshoumaru's confession that he would have gladly had a child with a miko instead of a demoness hadn't produced any changes of note - still more than a friend, but never anything so tender as a lover. She wished things would budge just a bit over the course of centuries. "Although, for us, 'the same' means that we should be on our toes."

He nodded. "You seemed as if you recalled something at the club."

"It feels like I should be, but how? Where do a few murders in the middle of a violent district of London fit into my schooling? I certainly didn't go digging for hundred year old killings for _fun_ when I was a kid. Then again, I can't be sure," she said. More and more often, she had to grasp at details she had read three hundred years in her past - a problem that had not been entirely unexpected, but it was still maddening. "It's getting difficult."

"Knowing that we should tread carefully may be enough."

She gave him a grim smile and wondered what would happen when she wouldn't know even that.

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The redheaded prostitute in front of The Ten Bells public house screeched in anger as Kagome barreled through a group of prospective, drunken clients. Her foul-mouthed insults followed the miko down the length of Fournier Street, but Kagome couldn't spare the breath to shout an apology. She'd been running from Shoreditch, and it felt as if someone had set her lungs on fire.

_Why_ had she insisted that Sesshoumaru check in with Roberts at the club? He could have covered this distance with irritating ease.

She glanced up to make sure the shadow was still there and immediately spotted a whisper of movement. The shape-shifter was mocking her, of course. Just like the taiyoukai, this was an easy jog, instead of a harrowing sprint through the crowded streets of a slum. She had no idea why the creature wasn't just coming down to face her, but what else could she do? At least she had enough faith that she could fight the shape-shifter once it stopped leading her on this chase. It did occur to her, however, that the demon was drawing her away from Sesshoumaru. She and the taiyoukai were far stronger together than apart, after all.

Holding her woolen cap down, Kagome whipped around the corner and onto the broader, busier Brick Lane. Her anxiety spiked as she twisted through the groups of men still wandering the streets, looking to spend their weekly wages on women and drink. None of these people realized what tremendous danger they were in, and she couldn't protect them all. The shadow of the shape-shifter was gaining a tremendous lead as she wove her way through the late-night revelers, and she feared that she would come to the end of the street and find pools of blood.

But the demon clearly had other plans - remaining ahead of her, but always within sight, the creature led her through Whitechapel without pause. Only when it turned onto a smaller side-street did the shadow fade into the night.

Kagome hovered at the corner for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Unlike Brick Lane, there were few people and fewer lanterns here - the perfect place for an ambush. For someone that could get caught, anyway. For a shape-shifter, the middle of Trafalgar Square could serve as a site for murder - no one else could stop an immortal. It made no sense to draw anyone here.

She drew her revolver from where she'd tucked it into her trousers and ventured forward, into the dark. "Why did you bring me here, you bastard?" she whispered as she cocked the hammer back.

"A double event this time!" came the hissed reply.

She turned and fired in the direction of the voice. The flare of orange light from the barrel illuminated a gate that stood open to a narrow yard. A rattling laugh echoed as she stepped through the wooden gates marked with the names of sack and cart manufacturers. "This is ridiculous!" she growled. "You're trying to scare me? I know _exactly_ what you are."

Heavy breathing answered her, and she frowned as she leveled her gun towards the noise. Her heart began to drop. The shape-shifter would never be this loud - not to mention that the pull of their shared immortality was not guiding her forward. Someone _else_ was in the yard, and Kagome had a sinking suspicion of who it was.

A muffled roar of laughter came from the building to her right - another club or public house where dozens of people caroused, ignorant of the nearby danger. Her vision sharpened as her eyes adjusted to the dark, and she spotted the door. Despite her words of confidence a few moments earlier, she was tempted to make her escape, but her steps faltered before she began. There was something in front of the cellar grate, not three feet from where she stood - something the size and shape of a woman on her back and that smelled faintly of copper.

She crouched down and reached for what she prayed was a pile of old rags. The feeling of still-warm blood slipping over the tips of her fingers, however, was far too familiar for her to pretend. A moment later, she could make out the white face of the dead woman and the glistening slash across her throat. Leather Apron had murdered this poor woman, and he was probably still in the yard, silently crowing over the miko's revulsion.

Or not. _A double event_. Kagome straightened up, her hand tightening around the grip of her revolver as she peered into the dark. "You're planning to kill me," she said. "What? You aren't getting enough attention as it is? You want two dead women? I have to tell you that I'm going to make that difficult."

She heard the softest of footfalls to her right, but before she could swing her arm around to shoot, he was there, grabbing her wrist and twisting it painfully. Her Colt dropped to the ground, and she bit back the cry that rose in her throat. She sent her fist flying and connected with flesh, feeling a sharp burn slice across the back of her forearm at the same time.

He recoiled but kept his hold, drawing her closer and moving to dig his fingers into her shoulder. "Get off me, you bastard!" she growled, bringing her foot up as hard as she could. Her shin hit home, and the man cried out, releasing her at last.

She scooped up her revolver and turned back as quickly as she could, pulling the trigger before she reacquired her target. The flare only gave her the outline of a man barreling down on her, and she fired again. The man screamed a short, animal scream, and she heard a panicked scuffle of feet on dirt towards the west end of the yard.

Kagome gave chase, but she was running blind, and the adrenalin rush that had started with her run across Whitechapel had already seeped out of her body. She felt as if she was wading through molasses rather than a pitch black night. By the time she reached the back of the yard, her head was spinning, and the brick wall that stood between her and the street had become a daunting obstacle.

Behind her, the gate swung open, and a wagon wheel creaked. Her temptation to circle the block was crushed as she heard a man urging a reluctant pony forward, into the dark. Her time was limited - even in the absolute dark, it would be difficult to miss the corpse in such a narrow yard. In a moment or two, the alarm would go up, and the entire yard would be searched.

Indulging her urge to rest her forehead against the rough surface for just a second, the miko tucked away her gun and then reached up to find a hand-hold. The brick immediately tore at her fingertips, and her shoes slipped as she pressed them against the wall. With mortar crumbling under her, she managed to hoist herself up and over the wall, tumbling into the gutter of the neighboring street.

The light hadn't improved. With only the vaguest outlines of buildings visible and no one obviously fleeing, Kagome could only guess at a direction to take. She knew that she could run straight past the killer waiting patiently in the darkest shadows. But she eschewed the option of heading back towards the district's busier streets and stuck to the alleys instead. No one could wander around covered in blood - not even in Whitechapel.

Her remaining bravado flagged as she made her way through the nearly deserted avenues. She was transported back to Tortuga, with its black doorways and the hollow stares of the few people she passed. It smelled of the Caribbean dockside - of freshly fired bricks and melted metal - and grit covered every surface, courtesy of the pea soup fogs that rolled in and out of the city. Everything filled her nose and her ears, drowning her senses in disturbing memories and forcing her to pause several times.

She turned into a narrow lane and stopped dead as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. A still, silent form stood in front of her, and Kagome realized after a moment of staring that the pull in the pit of her stomach had returned in force. Instinct kicked in, and she raised a shining, pink barrier of light just as the shape-shifter struck.

They both reeled, Kagome's purifying power flickering slightly as she stepped back.

"I could break it if I wanted to," whispered the shape-shifter, leaning in close enough that the light illuminated her face. It wasn't the male - the one that she had known as Lucas - but his mate. Kagome hadn't seen her since the early days, before she had found Sesshoumaru that first time here in London. She had never seen the female in a human form, but she was beautiful now, with high cheekbones and auburn hair. She also had a look in her eye that marked her as someone that had long ago gone over the edge of sanity.

Kagome drew her revolver once more and pointed it at the shape-shifter's head. "Try it. A bullet will go through faster than you."

The shape-shifter curled her fingers and laughed. "All I have to do is wait," she said, her eyes moving down to Kagome's shoulder.

The miko looked, seeing for the first time that her entire sleeve was sodden with her own blood. She took a steadying breath and faced the shape-shifter again. "It'll be a long one. I'm feeling better already."

"Liar."

She shook her head. "Why are you even doing this? How could you do something like work for the Order? You and your mate practically _run_ it, but you're just killing your own kind!"

The shape-shifter stepped closer, running a hand along the surface of the barrier and ignoring the hiss of her own singed flesh. "'_My_ kind'?" she echoed. "You think that those demons that bleed so easily are 'my kind'?"

"Well, I hope you're not thinking that I'm part of your little, psychotic group."

She scoffed. "You have the same impurities as the lowest vermin, and we are exterminating the world of all of you."

Kagome frowned. "Seems to me that you're just killing the only ones that you think have a chance of hurting you. You should just admit it, because they _are_ your kind. I think they deserve that small amount of recognition before you slaughter all of them."

"It's always been just the four of us." She smiled, showing off her pointed teeth.

"It was. Just two now."

There was a flash of white light as the shape-shifter burst forward and pounded her fists against the barrier. Her beautiful face distorted into grotesque rage. "Because you're a murderer!" she screeched. "We were supposed to be together forever, and you killed them! My children!"

The strength of the guilt that lanced through her was shocking. She'd shot the daughter through the forehead without a second thought. She'd been relieved when Sesshoumaru drove an axe through the son to save her life. If she had ever lost a moment's sleep on a death that she had caused, it hadn't been either of those. Being faced with a childless mother, however, was different. "We had no choice," she answered, her voice faltering.

"I want my pound of flesh," seethed the shape-shifter, digging her claws into the pink light.

Kagome watched as cracks began to spiderweb over the surface of the barrier. "I didn't want to hurt them!" She steadied the revolver's aim again. "I don't want to hurt you either, but I _will_."

The demon licked her lips. "I think I'll take an arm."

A panicked shout and the shrill sound of a policeman's whistle filled the air, drawing the miko's attention for a moment. When she glanced back, the shape-shifter was shaking with silent laughter. Any remorse she'd been feeling fled in an instant. "You're just here to distract me!" Kagome said. "Why? So you can kill another prostitute that probably doesn't even know what she is?"

"You have such a small mind," said the shape-shifter, watching her like a lion that had just fed. "Who cares about a few whores? Humans only care about their own lives."

Kagome moved her finger to the trigger, but her opponent had tired of the game - the miko didn't see the shape-shifter move before she was showered with the shards of her own, shattered barrier. She stumbled back, covering her face and bracing for a hit that didn't come. When she opened her eyes again, she was alone in the dark.

"Damn." She'd lost her chance to defeat anyone tonight. Holstering her weapon and ignoring the pain down the length of her arm, Kagome trudged down the length of the alley. She needed light to check her wounds, and she couldn't leave without seeing what had so delighted the shape-shifter. The police were just looking for a killer, after all - she was searching for a deeper reason.

The crime scene wasn't difficult to find. Despite the late hour, it seemed that half of the district had woken up to look on the face of a murdered woman. Two dozen lanterns now lit the southwest corner of Mitre Square, illuminating the faces of the morbidly curious and the grimly rattled. They were clustered around the body, of which Kagome could see little as she approached. The light and shadow twisted the shape at the crowd's feet into something that didn't look human - she could only see the glistening of the blood spilled on the street.

A familiar figure broke off from the crowd and approached her, shedding his coat as he went. "You're injured," he said, draping the heavy cloth over her shoulders. "How badly?"

"I'm fine. It's just a few scratches," she said, looking up at the taiyoukai. "Why are you here?"

"Roberts was safe, and he had nothing new to tell us. I was wasting my time there."

She shifted restlessly under the coat. "This itches."

"You can't come to a place where a woman has been murdered with blood on you," he replied. "Tell me what's happened."

Kagome want to press against him and his warmth, but she kept her relief at his presence in check. "Tell _me_ that it's really you first."

His fists clenched into the lapels of his coat as he pulled it closer to her body. "You're asking me to prove my identity? Then, you've run across the shape-shifters." He drew back her sodden sleeve back and exposed the gash running along her forearm. The burning she'd felt in her fight with the killer had been the slice of a knife. But it hadn't hit bone, and she wiggled her fingers to prove that she hadn't been incapacitated. "Did they do this? You know how much damage we can do to one another. No wound from them should be treated lightly."

"I'm _fine_," she repeated. He brushed his free hand's thumb along her jaw, and she hoped that it wasn't Lucas in front of her, pretending to care. "I mean, I've lost some blood, but it was a human that cut me, so I _will_ be fine. Now, please? There's a reason we have codewords."

"_Pink daffodils_," he muttered after a moment. "Why you chose such a ridiculous phrase..."

"Because the real Sesshoumaru will say whatever he has to in order to prove himself," she interrupted.

He arched his brow. "Within reason."

Kagome gave him a small smile and moved around him to get another look at the crowd. "Do they know who it is yet?"

"Catherine Eddowes," said Sesshoumaru. "She was a prostitute like the others. She also had a small amount of demon blood."

She took a deep breath and pointed to the tea factory that overlooked the crime scene. "Will you take me up there? I need to get a better look, and I don't think that'll happen down here with that mob."

Sesshoumaru didn't move. "You do not need to see what was done to her."

"Yes, I do," she said, wrapping her arms around herself. "I was chasing the killer, Sesshoumaru. This isn't his first body of the night, but I let him _frighten_ me and get away. Then, I let the shape-shifter distract me, so that he could kill this woman. I think I owe it to Catherine Eddowes to see what he did to her instead of to me."

The dog demon frowned but gathered her in his arms. "No blame could ever be laid at your feet for this, Kagome," he said as he jumped up to the rooftops and settled into a dark corner where they could remain unnoticed.

His reticence only heightened her nerves, and she held onto him for a moment longer than necessary, keeping as close as possible when he set her back on her feet. Police below them had started to push the crowd back, and a coroner had arrived. Lamplight filtered through the bodies, and the miko saw the dead woman for the first time. "Oh _God_," she breathed. "How could anyone do that to someone? Her _face_."

"Anger alone drives someone to such extremes," answered Sesshoumaru. "She was already dead when he did that. And the rest of it."

Kagome watched as the coroner recorded his initial observations - his hands were shaking. "And it's not helping. He's getting angrier every time, isn't he?" she murmured.

"I do not think that he can kill what truly infuriates him."

"Then, it'll just get worse." Her heartbeat rose at the thought, and she flushed as Sesshoumaru leaned towards her. "I don't understand. We've seen things like this before, and yet, I can barely stand to look at her."

He placed his cool hand across her forehead, and she felt how clammy her skin had become. "This is different from war or famine. If you were unaffected, there would be far more cause for concern." He shook his head. "There is nothing more that we can do here. We must go to our apartment and discuss your encounter with the shape-shifter. I will find him tonight."

She took a few, deep breaths. "I only found her when _she_ wanted to be found. I don't think you'll have any more luck tonight."

"'She'? It was the matriarch?"

"I think so. Lucas was a sadistic bastard. He'd probably commit these murders himself, and I'm not saying that she was any less psychotic, but she seemed to prefer playing with me."

He frowned. "Why do you say that?"

Kagome turned to watch the activity below them again. "Because she could have killed me tonight. I didn't even notice she was in front of me until the last minute. It was like she was waiting for me to realize what she was before attacking me. They don't have any honor though. There was no _sane _reason for her hesitation."

"As you said, she served as a distraction."

"But so was the killer. She could have cut me down then, when he was playing the part of the distraction. He _couldn't_ hurt me, although he seemed to believe that he could."

"Perhaps her goals are not as chaotic as they might appear. These murders are familiar to you. They are significant in some way, and so is her connection to them."

She covered her face. "It'd probably be helpful if I remembered why they are significant then. Maybe we'd figure things out."

He buried his fingers in the hair at the nape of her neck, rubbing his thumb against her skin. "You need rest. I am taking you home, and we will tend to your injuries," he said. "Perhaps it is best if I search out the shape-shifter and the murderer in the morning."

Kagome sagged against him. "Alright. I give in," she muttered. "I'm probably only imagining things anyway. This creep is a nobody."

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She should have been listening to the hushed argument between the two males to her left, but instead, she allowed herself to focus on the newspaper, blurred by the drenching rain, that was beneath her feet. She envied the person that could so easily cast it aside - much to Sesshoumaru's chagrin, she had collected every scrap of news tangentially connected with the killer in the past five weeks. It was stupid - the papers were little better than gossip rags - but it was also the best she could do.

Sesshoumaru had taken it well at first, but his frustration with her obsessive hunt grew by the day. Privately, Kagome thought that he couldn't understand. It was only the latest symptom of a rapidly progressing disease - she wasn't just forgetting Sesshoumaru's future but her _own_ past. Her knowledge of coming events had become more than her unique gift to their partnership over the centuries - it was her anchor to that time when she was not the embattled, secret warrior, but simply a daughter, sister and granddaughter. Her family's faces had faded over time, but remembering her history had given her that lifeline back to them. She was only supposed to run out of knowledge in the moment that she could walk up to the shrine and be welcomed home again. Not before.

The fact that the killer taunted them and the city at large twisted that sharp knife of realization every day. Her entire body had gone cold the first time she'd heard his self-ascribed name - the one he had signed at the bottom of a gruesome letter accompanied by Catherine Eddowes' missing kidney.

"_Jack the Ripper_," she murmured aloud. "God damn you."

The conversation beside her stopped dead. "Lady Spenser?" asked Roberts. "Are you alright?"

Her head jerked up. "I'm fine." She caught a glimpse of Sesshoumaru's tight-lipped frown. "But I am a bit distracted. Have you two decided on what to do?"

"Not exactly," admitted the wolf, his jaw tense. "Your husband still believes that I will get one of us killed if I accompany you on your nightly trips here to Whitechapel."

"Considering that you're endangering your life right now, he's probably right," said Kagome, eyeing the wolf's suit. To say that he was conspicuous in the fine wool in the middle of the night in Whitechapel was a vast understatement - a common thief would try to take his life for his gold pocket watch. No hooligan would _succeed_ in even intimidating the massive hanyou, but it didn't bode well for his sense of awareness. "We can't worry about you too."

Roberts shook his head. "I accept the risks. I don't ask that either of you protect me, Lady Spenser."

"That will not stop my wife from trying to do so and risking _her_ life in the process," said Sesshoumaru, "which is unacceptable to _me_."

He took a deep, halting breath. "I'm sorry, Lord Spenser, but I cannot measure the lives of several women under _my_ protection against my own life. Or even your wife's. The killer doesn't seem as if he will ever stop, and you have not reported any progress."

Kagome knew that she should be just as irritated with the wolf as Sesshoumaru evidently was, but she couldn't stir up any annoyance at what he said. Or even what he didn't say - it was clear that Roberts had grown impatient with sitting by and waiting for her terse and discouraging letters. She knew far too well what it was like to be left behind, especially by Sesshoumaru. "I do understand where you're coming from."

He brightened. "Then you'll..."

"No," she cut in. "Your willingness to sacrifice your life for others is only admirable if it accomplishes something. Trust me when I say that going against this killer will get you nothing but a pointless death, and we will have lost the most powerful, permanent protection London demons have. You're thinking about the short term, and when things this horrifying are going on, I can't blame you. But demons should be playing a much longer game. It's the only way you'll survive."

"When I hear little or nothing from you, and yet, the killer is sending _pieces_ of these women through the post, I do not believe we have the time for any 'long games'. This is not a chessboard, Lady Spenser, and I am no pawn."

She bowed her head slightly. "I don't mean to trivialize anything, Mr. Roberts, and I do not want to make your choices for you. In return, you cannot make _our_ choices for us, and we made the choice long ago never to involve those that didn't need to be involved."

Roberts turned his face away so that it fell into shadow. "Perhaps you're right," he said in a low voice. "I will wait for your reports, then, if you think it's best."

"I do."

He nodded, straightened up and gave them a small bow, his eyes on the ground the entire time. "I eagerly anticipate any news. I will return immediately to where I belong," he said. "Goodnight, Lord and Lady Spenser."

They watched him disappear into the dark before looking at one another. "Is it just me or did that go from impossible to easy as pie in two seconds flat?" Kagome asked.

"It is not just you," Sesshoumaru said.

"You think he'll keep on trailing after us?"

The taiyoukai shook his head. "It is far more likely that he will search for the killer on his own." He caught her worried glance. "And no, that does not mean we will follow _him_. He risks what is his and nothing more."

His words rankled against every fiber of her being, but she had seen what the shape-shifters could do when unrestrained. Someone would die if Roberts accompanied them. "I don't like measuring our lives against his," she murmured.

"He measured yours against prostitutes'," replied Sesshoumaru.

Her eyebrows raised at the undercurrent of petulance in his voice. "Why don't you like him? I know you think he's being rash, but he is trying to defend his city's youkai."

"A rash ally is no ally at all. Wolves can never contain their foolishness."

Kagome studied the firm set of his jaw and made a tactical decision to drop the subject. "We don't have anything to stop us from going home then," she said, pulling her collar close to her throat. "It's been a long night, and this rain isn't stopping."

Sesshoumaru nodded, wrapped his arm around her waist and launched them into the air. Below them, silence pervaded the streets as the holiday kept the laborers in bed far past the normal hour. Even those who had the most to fear from Jack the Ripper slept believing they were safe behind their locked doors. She and Sesshoumaru stood as the sole guardians of people that didn't know they needed protection at all.

Or did they? Although the details of Jack the Ripper's crime spree had faded over time, Kagome knew that the murders would eventually stop. Yet again, they were stuck in an impossible situation of guessing whether they were part of established history or interfering with it. The involvement of the Order had cemented Sesshoumaru's resolve that they should stop the killer themselves, but she was never quite as sure. In the end, she could only do what she thought was right and hope that history agreed with it.

Their hushed travels continued until they crossed Commercial Street, where only the pubs remained open to serve the most dedicated drunks. A fortunate thing, as only the most inebriated revelers would have failed to notice Sesshoumaru dropping from the sky. Kagome gripped at his coat as they hit the ground in an alley. "What are you _doing_?" she hissed.

"I smell blood."

Her annoyance fled in an instant. "Where? Was it close?"

"I believe so," he affirmed before taking her hand and pulling her back out onto the street, ignoring the glassy-eyed glances of a cluster of men. They walked slowly as he sniffed at the air and bent his ear towards every door. "But the shape-shifter is not. You know that Jack the Ripper is not the only horror in this city."

Kagome shook her head. "She feels like she's on the other side of the city, but what does that matter? I chased her last time, and women died. We need to follow the blood instead."

Sesshoumaru only hesitated a moment before they started off again, keeping their footfalls as quick and as quiet as possible. They passed The Ten Bells and the white facade of Christ Church Spitalfields before the taiyoukai tugged her into a side street. Cheap lodging houses lined it, and Kagome felt the oppressive darkness wrap around her, stealing her breath.

"_Murderer!_"

Kagome's eyes widened. "That was..."

"Roberts," finished Sesshoumaru as they darted towards one of the shadowed doorways and into the first floor room where the cry had originated.

A dying fire lit the room in a glowing orange, and for a moment, Kagome wondered if they had stepped into Hell itself. A human male spattered in red stood in the shadow at the foot of a bed, facing Roberts, who was pale and trembling from his place where he'd fallen against the wall. The entire room reeked of blood, and Kagome kept her eyes off the disheveled and dripping bed, knowing that she would not be able to look away when she did.

"Herbert," Sesshoumaru said, a hint of surprise seeping into his voice.

Kagome's gaze snapped back again, and recognized the fidgety, diminutive male she had met at the club. His eyes still darted about, but with a bloodied knife in his grasp and the firelight on his face, he seemed to fill the room with his mere presence. But he didn't have the pointed teeth or sharp claws of a quarter-demon - despite losing every weapon at his disposal in day-to-day life, he stood in front of them with a crazed confidence. "He's been slaughtering women on the nights he turns human," she realized.

Roberts seemed paralyzed by the betrayal, but Sesshoumaru's shock was not nearly so silent. In an instant, he had Herbert's throat under his claws. "Traitor!" he seethed.

"I cleanse myself as I cleanse the world," spat back Herbert, pushing on the taiyoukai's chest.

Kagome saw the flash of white but had no time to react - Sesshoumaru was already flailing backwards as she cried out a warning. She crashed to her knees beside him, her hands covering the binding spell that was plastered over his heart. Her nails tore at it, but it held fast as the taiyoukai tried to suck in a breath but failed. The Order had evidently discovered stronger, better incantations. That, or the shape-shifter herself had cast it.

She felt the floorboards bend beneath her feet and turned to see Herbert looming over her. He still held the knife, and while he was starting to get that sleepy, sated look of a predator that had enjoyed a good kill, she had no illusions that he would pass her by.

"_Whore_," he murmured, confirming her fears.

She'd rushed in to help Sesshoumaru far too quickly - she should have shot Herbert as soon as the taiyoukai had fallen. Now, the weight of her gun sat on her hip, but she had no room to draw from her position. She had no room for _anything_ that could help her.

Kagome fell back on her oldest weapon - her ability to talk and to stall. "If the shape-shifter made you do this, we can help you break free of her," she lied. She didn't need to look at what was on the bed to know that Herbert was _enjoying_ himself and that there was no saving him. Nor would he want to be saved. "I just want to know why. Why these women? Why now?" she asked as her hands continued to scrape at the binding spell.

Herbert narrowed his eyes. "I cleanse myself as I cleanse the world," he said again.

"Of what?"

"Heaven and hell should never meet." He licked his lips and looked at the bed. "As they did in her."

Kagome's neck protested as she twisted to look him fully in the face. "And in you," she said. "You hate yourself, don't you?"

His eyes widened, and his hand tightened around the handle of the knife just as she tore the incantation free of Sesshoumaru's skin and clothes. The magic crackled as it dissipated into the air. The balance of power in the room shifted with a soft intake of breath.

Herbert took a step back as the taiyoukai rose to his feet. Kagome watched from her place on the floor as Sesshoumaru's eyes blazed red, brighter than the fire or the shimmering blood. "I would run," he snarled, "if I were you, traitor."

The hanyou turned tail, the door slamming shut behind him. The sound seemed to break through Roberts' trance. He looked to the both of them. "You're letting him go?" he asked in a dazed voice. "I think he... I mean, he _did_... He was my friend, and he attacked me."

"Youhave to follow him," Kagome said.

Roberts stared. "What?"

She surged to her feet and caught the taiyoukai just as he began to tip. "He wouldn't have left this room if we'd been capable of killing him. Sesshoumaru will be fine in a second, but you need to keep track of him in the meantime. Herbert is dangerous when he's almost caught, trust me."

"You didn't want me involved," he said, although he stood.

She scowled. "Well, I'd say you're involved now. Go! Follow him, and Sesshoumaru will be able to follow _your _scent much more easily," she said as he slowly moved across the room. "Just avoid the madwoman that'll be with him eventually. She'll kill you in a moment."

The massive wolf seemed very small in the doorway, but he nodded. "I will stop him," he promised before stepping back into darkness.

Sesshoumaru leaned heavily on her shoulder. "He will be killed if he is alone for long. Sunrise is not far away, and Herbert has more strength than any of us realized," he said, his voice weak and low.

"I know," she replied, "but we're not following until _you'll_ be safe in facing him. The Order's spells are becoming far more effective."

"I will be fine. You can kill Herbert on your own with ease."

"You trust me to protect you?" she asked.

He frowned. "When have I given you cause to think otherwise? And more than that," he said, "I trust that you will do to him _exactly _what he deserves."

She finally lifted her eyes to the bed and found an image she knew would forever appear in her nightmares. Flesh, bone and viscera glistened. He'd cut her throat so deeply that it had gouged her spine. Everything that could have identified her, by name or as a woman, had been hacked away and destroyed - only a matted mess of hair covered what had once been her face. Her blood covered the wall and pooled beneath the bed, dripping from the parts ripped from her body. She'd been hollowed out and left as a used husk. Herbert had taken her very humanity with the cuts of his knife.

"That can't be all of her. He took parts of the others," whispered Kagome. "She deserves to be buried whole. They all do."

"Come," the taiyoukai murmured, pulling her away from the gory scene. "We know where we have to go."

She nodded. "Because he will get what he deserves," she said. "I'm not failing again."

They stepped out onto the wet-slicked street. The rain had stopped, and the clean air was fading to make way for the fog once more. "I should have seen it," Sesshoumaru said as they made their way back towards the main street. "He was not erasing his scent, as I thought. His scent changed so greatly when he transformed into a half-demon that the trail only appeared to end."

"That was hardly your fault. I didn't even recognize him when he was in front of me," she said.

"Because the idea never occurred to either of us. We have again forgotten that we cannot even trust our own kind."

Kagome glanced up at his troubled brow as they wove through small alleys towards Whitechapel Road. "It's the shape-shifter behind it all," she said. "It has to be. She warped his mind somehow. With a spell or torture or _something_."

"No," he said. "It is his true self. The timid creature in the club was the mask."

She conceded that with a bow of her head. "It would be nice if it wasn't us against the world, Sesshoumaru."

"Yes, it would be," he muttered. "But that is not tonight. They are close."

She quickened her pace to match his. "Already?"

"Herbert is still human and only moves with a human's speed, but not for long. We must reach him before dawn."

It was unlikely that anybody but Kagome could hear the strain in his voice and know how severe of a blow he had taken. The fact that the taiyoukai couldn't face even a quarter-blooded demon rattled her - if the shape-shifter decided to turn up in the midst of a fight, it could be disastrous. "And Roberts?"

"He will hesitate," Sesshoumaru muttered. "You must _not_ depend upon him."

Kagome pressed close to him as the sound of angry voices reached her own ears. "I'll sacrifice him," she said as she drew her gun, "if I need to. It'll be alright."

They stepped around the corner, and a furious shout drew their attention to the roof of the soot-crusted building on the opposite side of the street. Two figures were locked in a tumbling, savage brawl. Herbert's ever-present knife glinted in the starlight.

"Here," Sesshoumaru said, bending towards her.

She only hesitated for a moment, knowing that the jump would exhaust him. But there was no other choice - she'd risk shooting Roberts from down in the street. She looped her arm around the back of his neck and braced herself.

It was probably the most graceless leap of Sesshoumaru's life, but they made their target. Kagome dropped from his arms and leveled her pistol at the figures only a few yards away. "Roberts!" she shouted at the larger of the two shapes as she rushed towards them. "Get down!"

The wolf twisted, but Herbert had grabbed hold of his collar. He drew back the knife, and Kagome swore at the size of her target. The gunshot blasted in her ears as the bullet tore through flesh. Herbert let out a gutteral yell and shoved Roberts at her - she and the wolf tumbled to the floor, and her gun fell from her hand.

She watched it skitter across the roof, and she realized that the muzzle flash had never died - the sun was rising and beginning to shine through the fog. "Sesshoumaru!" she cried as she struggled to untangle herself from Roberts.

"Too late!" Herbert was cackling behind her, lifting his bloodied hands towards the sun. His transformation started to pulse through his body. "This is _nothing_. I am a god among you filth. I will soar above you. I will..."

Kagome got to her feet as Sesshoumaru sped past her, slamming into the quarter-demon. His hand wrapped around Herbert's neck, and he paused only for a second as the murderer's feet dangled over the edge of the building. "You can't fly yet," the taiyoukai snarled before releasing his grip. Herbert didn't have time to scream.

She ran to Sesshoumaru - he trembled ever so slightly. "But I am fine," he said when she asked.

They looked over the edge of the roof and into the alley below them. Herbert's body was sprawled out in awkward angles across the stone; blood trickled from where his head had impacted the ground. "You timed that perfectly," Kagome said with a relieved sigh. "Two seconds more, and he would have landed on his feet as a quarter-demon instead."

"I wish I could say it was anything but luck," murmured Sesshoumaru.

"Does it matter?"

"Why didn't she save him?" he asked.

Kagome followed his gaze, and her heart stopped for a split second as she spotted the silhouette of the shape-shifter on a rooftop some distance away. As they watched, the figure turned and moved away at an unhurried pace. "She has to know that we're in no shape to fight her. Where is she going?"

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "But somehow, I suspect that we just did her a favor."

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Roberts sat behind his desk, running a finger over the scars forming along the back of his hand. He also had several running along his arms, under the dinner jacket he wore at the moment, but otherwise was no worse for wear from his fight with Herbert. Outwardly, at least. "It should have been far easier," he said.

"He was a friend," Kagome said. "Not to mention that he was helping search for himself. It made the situation more than difficult. Even if he'd lived, I don't think he could answer all of our questions about why they took some of the victim's organs or why they picked them at all. What matters for now is that we stopped the murders."

He shook his head. "I should have realized something was wrong. I trusted his nervous, shy exterior. I accepted his secretive nature as a part of growing up as a demon in these times." He sighed. "You know, I pulled him up on that roof to demand answers, but I could have known earlier. I never asked about his mother."

"Let me guess. She was a prostitute."

Roberts nodded. "He was sent to live with extended family in the country soon after he was born. I wrote to them in the last few days. There aren't many left, but the cousin who replied said that she only remembered how angry Herbert was. In his eyes, his mother polluted his blood with a human father. He blamed her entirely."

"Why is it always the mother? I suppose Freud would feel validated."

"Who?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Forget it. You'll hear more about him in a few years, I'm sure."

The wolf hanyou sat back in his chair and studied her for a long moment. "I have never met such a unique woman as you, Lady Spenser. You fight. You shoot. You dress like a man when it pleases you. And you talk about the future as if you _know_."

Behind her, Sesshoumaru's quiet conversation with Compton came to a halt. "I'm just an ordinary girl to whom extraordinary things have happened," she replied.

"I doubt that you were ever ordinary," Roberts said. The sadness he'd been exuding a few moments ago had been replaced with anticipation. Kagome thought he'd never looked more wolf-like - he was hunting for something. "When we were all on that roof, I suddenly thought of my Uncle Ranulf. I was a child, barely more than an infant really, but he told me fantastic stories of this beautiful, human woman that traveled with a demon of immense power. And while the demon was the warrior, _she_ was the one that became the mythic figure. Cursed, but patient. Exotic, but kind. She had her own incredible power, but mostly, she worried about ermine being killed to make into furs."

Her eyes began to water as he spoke. "The ermine," she murmured, looking at Roberts. She now saw the broad nose and the bright eyes of someone she had held dear to her heart long ago. "I'd forgotten about that."

"He never did."

She felt the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Is he alive?"

"I don't know," he replied. "He took a mate and moved west, to the Americas. The last I heard, he had children and land in the Montana Territory, but that was a very long time ago."

Kagome thought of the muscular, amiable demon she had once loved and how he had thrived in the German forests - she hoped the untamed wilderness of America had been just as kind to him. "I'm glad he found someone."

He rounded his desk, took her hand and bowed deeply. "And _I_ am glad that I got to meet the goddess of his stories," Roberts said with a smile. "I understand now how a human woman could have one of the greatest demons I ever knew wrapped around her little finger. Two of those demons, actually, if he was right."

Sesshoumaru's hand slid over her shoulder as Roberts looked up at him. "Kagome," the taiyoukai said in a quiet voice.

"I know. We need to leave." She turned back to the wolf hanyou and grasped his hand in both of hers. "Thank you," she said, trying to put her whole heart into the two words.

"The sentiment is entirely mutual, Lady Spenser," he said. "I hope that we will meet again, under far happier circumstances."

"Of course. I make a habit of running into my friends," she replied with a watery smile.

A few minutes later, they had said their goodbyes to Roberts and Compton and were stepping out onto the busy sidewalk in front of the club for the last time. Sesshoumaru offered his arm, and she gripped it as the last of her tears dried. "Ranulf could be alive," she said. "It's strange to think that anyone else has survived this long."

The taiyoukai tensed up beside her. "Many have, I would think. Compton was telling me of youkai settlements in Africa, although it has been some time since anyone has heard from them."

She glanced up at him. "So, to Africa?"

"I would have thought you would wish to go to Montana first," he said. "Is he not a friend you want to make a habit of running into?"

Kagome smiled at how little the dog demon understood. "Maybe sometime. But while I'm sure Montana is beautiful in the winter, that's not where I need or _want_ to be."

Sesshoumaru let out a long breath and bent his head towards hers, his hair brushing her cheek. "So, to Africa."

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A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed! Several readers suggested this idea, and I found it really intriguing and easy to work into the story overall. When I wasn't staring at a cursor blinking for hours on a blank page, it was enjoyable too. ;)

Historical notes:

Jack the Ripper was entirely real. He terrorized the Whitechapel district in London in mid-to-late 1888, and although he killed (at least) five women, no one has identified who he was for sure. There are tons and tons of theories and books and popular media that have sprung from the story, but they can't agree on anything. It's generally accepted that he killed five women - Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly - in much the same way I've described in the story. There were several other murders and attacks attributed to him at one point or another, but those five are considered the "canonical" murder victims. Mary Jane Kelly's murder is perhaps the most famous, because it was the most gruesome, and Jack the Ripper apparently vanished after it. Serial killer are sociopaths and do not stop murdering people unless/until they are caught, move on or die, so basically all that we know is that he didn't just get tired of it.

In that day and age, the police couldn't do much without catching the killer red-handed. Several letters were sent to Scotland Yard and others of importance in the city mocking the police effort. Some of these letters were probably fakes, but the "From Hell" letter (from which the graphic novel and movie got its name) was accompanied by a human kidney, said to be taken from Catherine Eddowes. It's still unknown if it was written by the killer or was a sick joke. Nevertheless, with all the scientific lackings and the publicity - mostly drummed up by unscrupulous journalists of dodgy newspapers - the investigation never got far. Jack the Ripper remains one of the great crime mysteries of history, and it will probably never be solved.

The names of the three half- and quarter-demons all have literary significance - Louis Roberts, George Herbert and Edward Compton are all variations on the writers Robert Louis Stevenson, A. P. Herbert and Compton Mackenzie. They were all members of the Savile Club in London - one of the many prestigious, gentlemen's clubs that flourished during this era. The Savile Club was my model for this club because it was known for admitting the more eccentric and free-thinking crowd - just the sort of place to allow three demons take its offices. It still exists today, although it has moved from its location across from Green Park.

(I wonder if anyone noticed the other literary reference I slipped into the chapter. Hehe.)

As a last word of warning, if you decide to find out more about Jack the Ripper, be careful where you go online. The Victorians were not shy about sharing crime scene or mortuary photographs, and they show up when you least expect it.


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